Streets & Stories 013 — Featured Photographer

Jimmy Ky

  1. 01The work
  2. 02Who they are
  3. 03See more of his work

I wanted to see it for myself, instead of only through my parents' eyes.

Based in
Sydney, Australia
Works in
Street & documentary
Focus
Vietnam, end to end
Streets & Stories
Issue 013
A woman in a red áo bà ba and conical nón lá hat sits in a round basket boat at the center of the frame, surrounded by vivid turquoise water rendered into a radial vortex of blur, her hand raised slightly — Jimmy Ky
01A woman in a red áo bà ba and conical nón lá hat sits in a round basket boat at the center of the frame, surrounded by vivid turquoise water rendered into a radial vortex of blur, her hand raised slightly
01 — The work

Covering ground, rather than working a patch

Jimmy Ky has photographed since he was eight years old, in Sydney, a long way from where his family came from. His Vietnam work does not sit in one city — the frames run from the coast to the Mekong to a temple courtyard.

What started drawing me more to Vietnam was to learn more and reconnect with my culture — to see it for myself, instead of only through my parents' eyes.

From their feature — Streets & Stories 013
backlit vendor market alley — Jimmy Ky
02backlit vendor market alley
bamboo fish trap maker — Jimmy Ky
03bamboo fish trap maker
boy in highland field — Jimmy Ky
04boy in highland field
couple by hoan kiem lake — Jimmy Ky
05couple by hoan kiem lake
farmer thumbs up smile — Jimmy Ky
06farmer thumbs up smile
flower bicycle old quarter — Jimmy Ky
07flower bicycle old quarter
fruit vendor bicycle motion — Jimmy Ky
08fruit vendor bicycle motion
happy poodle portrait — Jimmy Ky
09happy poodle portrait
light streak motion abstract — Jimmy Ky
10light streak motion abstract
02 — Who they are

A country he knew second-hand

Portrait of photographer Jimmy Ky

Jimmy Ky was born and raised in Sydney and has been photographing since he was eight. For most of his life Vietnam reached him at one remove — his parents' memories, and the compressed version of a country you get on a short family trip.

The photographs here come from going back and staying long enough to look properly. That is why the work moves: an itinerary rather than a patch, which is what happens when someone is trying to see the whole of a place rather than perfect one corner of it.

03 — See more of his work

More frames, and where they turn up

These nine are a small selection. His own site holds the wider body of work; new frames appear on Instagram first.

Vietnam Streets features Jimmy Ky as a community photographer. We are not an agent and take no commission — everything here links straight to them.

Next — Streets & Stories 014

Antonio di Vico

Three young men at a blue-felt pool table in a dim Hanoi billiards hall; the central player in a black-and-gold patterned shirt leans into his shot while a man in a blue sleeveless vest watches from the left, and a foreground hand and cue enter from the lower right — Antonio di Vico
Photographs © Jimmy Ky Read Streets & Stories 013 →