Comprising a Life

The Bonsai, Travels and Haiku of Vaughn Banting

Children and orphans

When I was in Vietnam, due to the ravages of  war displaced children  were everywhere.  Of course there were orphanages but many more children seemed to have no home at all and to no fault of their own. 

These children really got to me and I tried to capture in my photographs of them, both their despair and their resilience.  I was there at pretty close to the end of the war, when it was becoming more clear each day that we were going to abandon them but  incredibly these children still seemed to love and trust us.

It broke my heart. 

Child carrying a child

 

These children had just been given beer and soft drinks

 

This photograph was damaged somewhere along the line but it still captures the individual cheerfulness of this group of children at a Catholic orphanage

 

This is one my favorite photographs. Although there is concern in the face of her little brother, his big sister seems to be looking towards the future.

 

"Two girls and a hat". Another one of my favorite photographs of children I took while in Vietnam

 

This scene could be anywhere were it not for the rubber trees it was played out under.