Between the Silent Eyes
“Between the Silent Eyes” is an on-going photographic documentation exploring the socio-cultural issues of the young Hmong women in Vietnam.
There are over one million Hmong people residing in the mountainous parts of Northern Vietnam, out of eleven million Hmong population across the world. Hà Giang province is the first place where they migrated to Vietnam from Southern China in the 19th century, where the traditional and cultural living methods are preserved. They are one of the most impoverished communities in Vietnam, traditionally taking agrarian lifestyles, with families eking out a living by farming on the rocky mountains. In contrast to a more liberal life belief, the traditional practices practically deepen the poverty that the Hmong generation often bear.
Because of fewer opportunities for work due to their remote geography, annually the young Hmongs seek employees in bigger countries and cities including China which shares over 277 km of mutual border with Hà Giang province to attempt to change their socio economic status. On the move, they are facing the risks of unfair treatment, discrimination, human trafficking, etc. However, the move opens their worldview especially for women and girls who have been seen as shouldering the bulk of domestic labor and childcare in a patrilineal culture, with little to no say in family decisions and rare chances to go outside their community in the mountains.
The project takes a closer look at the quick transition between childhood and adulthood, photographing the resilience and precarity as the girls from 16 - 25 years old deal with challenges of raising a family after bearing children, their youthful nature with family duty. I document how the young Hmong women and girls balance their cultural practices to adapt to their new chapter, their attempt to make an impact on their life. Through narratives, the project explores how their move advances contemporary Hmong women rights in the global picture of migration.
Project is in development with generous support from National Geographic Society
Máy,19, married at 16, working in the fields when she was in the last months of her pregnancy. In Vietnam, early childbearing differs significantly between population groups. Between 2020 - 2021, the adolescent birth rate among Hmong women is at 210 live births per 1,000 women, according to UNICEF.
Máy, 19, and her husband, Hầu Mí Dà, take rainwater for the whole family when the winter comes in Sình Tủng Chứ village.
Hmong people get on the bus and go to search for works.
Máy,19, married at 16, working in the fields when she was in the last months of her pregnancy. In Vietnam, early childbearing differs significantly between population groups. Between 2020 - 2021, the adolescent birth rate among Hmong women is at 210 live births per 1,000 women, according to UNICEF.
Dính,18, shares a portrait in her room. When Dính was 16, she fell pregnant by a 25-year-old Tày man - another minority group in Vietnam. They got married to ‘resolve pregnancy.’ Due to the conflict between their two cultures, her husband turned to violence and beat her. Dính then took her baby, left her husband, and moved to her sister’s nail salon, which is 150km away, for her safety.
Máy, 19, married 16, and her newborn at home in Sình Tủng Chứ village. “I feel the knives cutting my belly. In the operating room, the doctor injects painkillers and then operates. I’m afraid of the surgery. But you can’t die because of pain”, said Máy. “After seven days, I was allowed to go home. If I ate more, I would feel pain at the incision”, she said of her postpartum experience.
At the hospital, Máy, 19, after giving birth to the second child.
Máy, 19, hugging her newborn son and her 3 year-old daughter standing before her neighbour's house.
Recruitment Notifications in a remote village of Hà Giang province.
The Hmong village in Hà Giang province as the foggy season comes.
At the hospital, Máy, 19, after giving birth to the second child.
Máy, 20, wearing the white mask in the right corner, and other Hmong mothers walking on the street of Bình Dương city.
Máy, 20, the first night in Bình Dương city for work. She is lying on the ground of her rented room which she and her husband share with 2 other Hmong people.
Mỷ (left), 4, is Máy’s daughter. She and the niece are playing barbie dolls bought by mother at home in Sình Tủng Chứ village, Hà Giang province.
A part of this project exhibited in Lower Gallery, Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film from March 24 2022 to April 17 2022, curated by Chelsea Chua (Singapore). Further information here.
Read interview here, and In Conversation (recap): Nhàn Tran with Hannah Reyes Morales and Juliana Tan here, presented by Objectifs (Singapore).
It is also a part of the Angkor Photo Festival 2023: Projection Showcases, curated by Jessica Lim (Singapore) & Farhana Satu (Bangladesh), a part of Auckland Festival of Photography 2023, and presented at VII Insiders event: Perspectives from Asia.