Manland
In the middle of the Red River winding through the intensely urban Hanoi, Vietnam is an island that, depending on the amount of water flowing from upstream, can be unstable and sometimes flood as well. Because of this uncertainty, only a small group of very poor, socially outcast or landless farmers live there in temporary huts built either in the middle of the island or on floating platforms in the shadow of the old, iron bridge built in French times.
The island, called Bãi Giữa, is also a gathering place for a group of men who, everyday at the edge of the river, exercise, swim and relax in this natural setting. And they do all of this in the nude. In some people’s eyes, this area has a reputation as a place for criminals and addicts and not a place for a ‘good women’ to go.
A close gay friend of mine moved there after leaving prison and I came to the island to visit him and began spending more time with these naked men on this island. I was the only woman among them although I always remained clothed while here. I got to know the men and how they came to the island, about their lives and what this place meant to them. The people, like the place itself, are full of contradictions; the tenderness of rough ex-convicts, the sense of community and their openness to sexuality. There is no definite name. It is not a gay community and not a fully straight nor a hyper-masculine one either. Some have told me about their penile implants as a symbol of masculinity and prison status. Others have had health issues recovering only since they began coming here. Some reject consumerism and the strict lifestyle of normal society. They all believe in the miracle of sunlight and river water and reduce everything to only bare skin and being close to nature. It’s a community of very diverse backgrounds and ages.
In making these portraits, I became interested in these men’s place within the natural landscape on the island, in the moment of collaboration and trust between them and myself and in creating a kind of dreamscape of man and nature. I was interested in a tender portrayal of the men and of the relationship between the one taking and the one taken.
