Saigon in Motion: Doi Kuro’s Lens on a City Reborn
Sunday, May 25, 2025
Written by BEN TO THE SON
In the wake of Vietnam’s 1986 Đổi Mới reforms, Saigon entered a period of bold transformation, something Japanese photographer Doi Kuro captured during his visits in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Armed with a Pentax 645, Kuro documented a city in motion: full of energy, color, and quiet resilience.
His images reveal familiar scenes touched by change: red Craven A cigarette packs, green Bia Saigon bottles, the warm yellows of colonial buildings, and the golden crusts of street bánh mì. “Vietnamese life was open in the streets,” Kuro once remarked — and his photos remain a vivid testament to that moment in time.
Photo credit: Catherine Karnow (first image), Doi Kuro (from the second image)
