There are five million people in Saigon – and three million motorcycles. Almost no one walks or rides a bicycle anymore. Of course they are a few but it is very in a small count. the people have become motorcycle dependent, motorcycle bound. It’s  impossible to separate them from their cycles. They go nowhere without them… and they ride them anywhere and everywhere.

Although they were traffic lights, still… under normal conditions no one stops at intersections in Saigon or anywhere else in Vietnam. Everyone just keeps rolling at a steady pace. They expect other drivers to read their intent, and to speed up, slow down, weave or dodge in order to avoid smacking into them. Timing is routinely split-second.

Motorcycles surge through the streets like massive schools of fish swimming in a river too small and too shallow to carry them all. their drivers weave like barrel-racers through an oncoming tide of traffic, up a one way street or into an oncoming lane. They sail nonchalantly through intersections, directly across the flow of traffic, stopping only when confronted by a much bigger vehicle. Seriously this is insane!!!

They ride up over  onto the sidewalk, dodging and threatening pedestrians in equal measure, and with equal insouciance. They careen down narrow alleys crowded with people,with street sellers balancing bamboo poles or pushing large carts, with people drinking tea or beer, cleaning vegetables, cooking meals, doing dishes, and with children playing.

Motorcycle drivers come in all ages – some no more than children. They may be cautious and careful, or free-wheeling and reckless. Some are focused on what they’re doing, watching the road ahead, trying to anticipate what the other guy is about to do. But many seem to be paying almost no attention at all… they talking on their cell phone, looking for an address or yelling to a friend across the road. lol.

As my 4 days visit to saigon, i was totally amazed with this scenario! then i decided to documented this as part of my photo documentary project. This project is one of my ongoing long term project. maybe some of u have no idea what it is all about. Come to Saigon and experience yourself on the road. I already give a try to ride a scooter owned by one of local friends, but i failed! i cant stand any longer than 10minutes, especially when entering the junction and intersection. Dammit! haha.

Maybe all of the pictures above still not enough show how crazy the motorcycles in Saigon. I will try my best next time, need to get photos from different angle especially from the top!

regrads,
azimzainudin – saigon april 2010

hey yo ppl!!!
im not sure why 2010 i started to get jobs from terengganu. alhamdulillah rezeki!
tp yg pelik kenapa baru tahun ni… hehe… (bagus gk sbb bole balik kampung halaman) maybe baru start musim member2 sekolah kawen kot. ;p
this time i present to u… nik n wanie!
they used to be my schoolmate. kedua dua mereka adalah pengawas! wanie penah 1 kelas ngn aku dulu.
kelas time bila jgn tanyer lah aku pun dah lupa haha.
jgn main2 dia ni antara student paling cute. org kuat komuniti kelas bahasa jepun.
nik plak dulu dikenali sbg seorang pengawas yg kool! skarang dah jadi doktor beb!
sape sangka they are together now! wohooo.
trillion thx to both of them kerana memberi kepercayaan kepada azimzainudin.com to cover for majlis bertandang. seronok dpt jumpa rakan2 lama serta cikgu2.
i choose chinatown sbg tempat outdoor portraiture mereka sbb tempat tu ada keunikan yg tersendiri.
bosan la asyik2 masjid kristal je jadi mangsa…haha
i had fun shooting them… wanie suka gile tempat tu… dia ckp dia mcm bole phm apa yg tulis2 kt kedai tu sbb mcm sama ngn bahasa jepun. lol.

as usual…simple pose…playing with the background colors…. wide n 85 shot makes me really didnt want to stop!
hope u guyz like it. till next time.

regards,
azim.zainudin

regards,
team azimzainudin.com

1st of all… so sorry sgt to ija n ehsan sbb lambat upload kejadah ni.
lately mmg malas sungguh aku nk upload gmbr2 wedding…
smpi ada org tanyer saya ni dah x amek gambo wedding ke? asyik gambar2 travel je… haha…
soalan tu mmg susah nk jwb… lol

ok berbalik pada cerita… walaupun baru kenal ngn mereka berdua…thru azman (thx beb!)
i must say that dorg adalah the most cool pengantin yg saya pernah shoot sepanjang tahun ni!
kalo ada award dari pihak kami… of kos award tu dah dpt kat depa berdua!
akad nikah berlangsung di rumah ija…the 1st reception pula dekat anjung felda (assisted by mr khaled) n majlis bertandang di negeri sembilan (assisted by mr eman ismail).

reception di anjung felda sangat mencabar… lighting yg susah membuatkan saya berpeluh2 sepanjang masa!
more pics coming up soon! (tp dah xnk janji bila haha nnt mungkir janji susah plak)

regards, azim.zainudin

at last… after almost a year got engaged… they are finally called husband and wife.
mereka kedua2 adalah sahabat karib saya sewaktu kami sama2 menuntut di universiti teknologi petronas.
i still remember how faris used to tackle alya in his own way! wohoooo!
we (matahari clan) used to called faris and alya as papa n mama….hahaha! dun asked why… lol

congrates to both of them… its been a pleasure to covered their both event…!

regards,
azim.zainudin

**pssstttt…. we are seriously looking for a part time / fulltime photo retoucher and designer.
interested please do send ur simple resume with all of ur portfolio to azim.zainudin@gmaildotcom.

greetings from perth, western australia! 1st of all a big thanks to syed and sarah for the ‘osem’ hospitality in perth. this is my 1st visit to the ‘land below under’.
no need to talk much, of course it was awesome! ok, for the photoshoot… the location was in margaret river. it is about 4hours drive from perth.
why margaret river? because margaret river is a world famous for its premium wine, waves and walking. The stunning wineries in autumn, the best beaches for surfing and awesome walking tour to the deep jungle. we didnt havve much time to cover all the places in margaret river, but we manage to cover some of the most beautiful wineries in that area.
here some of the final product, more to come, i just cannot choose which one to share with all of u because…it was ‘a lot’!!!!

alhamdulillah. the deal has been confirmed.
will be in perth for another assignment.
hope everything will go smooth as planned.
im off for a week. perth here i come!!!

regards, azim.zainudin.

Shom, 28 years old have been living here at Bayon since he was born. He became a monk and help the lead monk, (picture of an old monk) 83 yrs old, to take care of the temple in Bayon area. Locals from all over Cambodia come to them because they provide traditional medicine to the patients.

This 2 young Khmer girls always wanted to go to school, but their family cannot afford it. Everyday they will help their parents to run the business selling Cambodian home made clothing to the tourist in Bayon area.

A group of young beautiful Khmer girls working as a full time traditional model in Angkor Wat. If the tourist want to take pictures with them, they will charged a small fee.

Garbage collector at the top of Angkor Wat. The poor life makes them do everything to get money to survive. Can u imagine how much they earn in 1 day, but still they are happy with their life…

The old market in Siem Reap always busy all day long. U can find a lot of things here, from the unique traditional Cambodian food to the high quality of home made jewelry.

Major of locals in countryside of Cambodia used to be in paddy production. In april, normally locals in Siem Reap will look for other things to do. Many of them will go fishing as the big famous Ton Le Sap is not far away from here. Some of them will do the fruit plantation. I manage to found a small community that still can plant the paddy although it is in the dry season. The source of water is very limited in this season but still, they got to do something for a living.

regards,
azim.zainudin.

yazid n fatiha. the photoshoot was suppose to be had 1 week after their 2nd reception. but somehow they got some emergency n we postpone 2 weeks after that. oh, fyi their 1st reception in cheras was covered by mr yemz n cak, while their 2nd reception by mr m.k. assisted by mr faiz wazir, the portraiture took place in kl bird park. yeahhh… new place… new environment. it was awesome! the wheather, the people, surrounding… everything were perfect on that day! why kl bird park? the location was choosed by fatiha herself, as she works there. we easily can enter the park and the best part is we manage to go in the area that cannot be entered by normal visitor. hoho!
me and faiz enjoy shooting them very much!

**i will not be around for about a week. next travel plan is already confirmed and i’m off in 3days. hope everything will go normally as planned. i hope so! 6 destination – 2 country – thousands of shot – excited!!!

regards,
azim.zainudin

***psstttt, after raya 2010 slot are now open for booking. please do call to book ur slot!

regards,
azimzainudin.