In the age of selfies, Ho Chi Minh City’s aging street photographers still wait to frame your memories

For these photographers, street photography has been a decades-long pursuit, despite sweeping changes in the field.

From a once-thriving trade to the sidelines

For Nguyen Phi Thang, 69, the days when street photography could comfortably support his family are long gone.

"I no longer take my camera out to the streets because hardly anyone wants to have their pictures taken," he told Tuoi Tre (Youth) online newspaper.

Thang, who lives on Cach Mang Thang Tam Street in Bay Hien Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, now keeps his camera at home, occasionally using it for neighbors' weddings, death anniversaries and other family occasions.

He once worked at popular recreational destinations across the city, including the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens, and Tao Dan Park, Dam Sen Park and Ho Ky Hoa Park.

During the 1980s, he could support his entire family with a single Praktica camera sent by a relative in the former East Germany.

On ordinary days, he shot five to seven rolls of film, while holidays and Lunar New Year (Tet) celebrations could bring in 50 to 70 rolls.

On particularly busy days, he recalled, Thang would return home around midnight with his waist bag full of money.

Thang attracted customers through his friendly manner and promotions, including one free photograph for every 10 shots.

Once same-day film developing became available, he also delivered prints to customers before they left the recreational venues.

But affordable digital cameras and increasingly capable smartphone cameras gradually eroded demand for street photography.

Some photographers moved into wedding or studio photography, while others changed careers.

Those who remain in the trade are mostly older people attached to it or unable to switch professions, and they now face competition from younger photographers equipped with newer cameras.

What keeps customers coming back

Le Quang Liem, 82, is one of the familiar faces around the Saigon Central Post Office and Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon in the downtown area.

With more than 50 years in the trade, he is recognizable by his friendly manner, camera and trademark Christmas hat.

Despite the decline of street photography, Liem still walks around popular destinations such as the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Turtle Lake, the Independence Palace and the Saigon Central Post Office, hoping to find visitors wanting souvenir pictures.

He said the decline began in the early 2000s, when more families could afford digital cameras.

The arrival of increasingly capable phone cameras more than a decade later dealt another blow, as manufacturers such as Samsung and Apple continued to improve their smartphone cameras, making them sufficient for everyday photography.

"People in the trade know it will be a long time before phones can match professional cameras, but ordinary users find phone cameras more than good enough," Liem said, adding that many also prefer recording videos on their phones.

Yet some visitors still seek out professional photographers for their experience and personal service.

They help customers adjust their poses, find suitable angles and make the most of natural light to capture memorable pictures.

A university student visiting the Saigon Central Post Office said she hired an elderly photographer both to support someone working in a fading profession and to get better souvenir pictures.

Despite owning a modern iPhone, she looked forward to receiving printed photographs to put in a wooden frame on her study desk.

Nguyen Hoang, who was visiting Vietnam from Canada, also hired a photographer during a weekend outing with his grandchildren.

His family members had iPhone 17 and iPhone 18 models, but he wanted professionally taken family pictures that could be enlarged and displayed on the wall.

Having the photographer arrange the printing was also convenient, as photo-printing shops have become less common, he said.

Waiting for the next customer

For Liem and another longtime street photographer known as Minh, the daily routine remains familiar: they return to their usual spots with cameras around their necks and wait for customers.

Minh, who has worked in the trade for 30 years, including 20 years around the Saigon Central Post Office, said he once had plenty of customers, including Vietnamese visitors, foreign tourists and overseas Vietnamese returning home.

Today, however, he struggles to make a living.

"In the past, I charged just a few thousand dong for each picture, but that was enough to support my entire family. Now, even though the price per picture is higher, I can barely make ends meet," he said.

Many visitors now walk past the elderly photographers, reaching for their phones instead. Those who stop for a photograph have become increasingly rare.

Yet they continue to return to the same spots, holding on to a trade that has shaped much of their lives, even as more visitors turn to their smartphones.