Author: Mads Monsen
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The art of walking in high heels and the images to prove it
It all started with an email. That’s why I was standing outside Hotel Continental, opposite the Opera House and waiting. A few minutes earlier I had parked my bike at the Park Hyatt. I was early. Unlike Vietnamese weddings, where it’s normal to arrive at least one hour after the official starting time, assignments tend…
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Third time lucky – or are we?
If you have good health and food on your table every day, then indeed, count yourself lucky. However, some of the patients at the Children’s Hospital 2, Nguyen Du street, are overdue to receive a bit of luck in their lives. It is Friday afternoon, ten to four, and we have arrived. Early and soaked…
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Souvenirs in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and what to buy as a memento
UPDATE 3rd January 2018 We no longer sell our lacquer products through third-party stores. Please visit our company website and contact us via the contact form. For regular poster prints, tote bags and t-shirt souvenirs, please visit our online web store. — Traveling to the Far East. The sentence has a magical sound to it.…
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Observing kindness and documenting with an iPhone
It’s Friday 4pm in Ho Chi Minh City. We are at the gates of the hospital again. This time we arrive early and it’s still daylight and the group has just assembled outside the cafeteria that is located inside the compound. Red plastic chairs are shuffled around and hands are shaken. More people are present…
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What a difference a slip of paper can make – A visit at the hospital ward, Nguyen Du Street, District 1
A chain of events. A one year anniversary notification found its way to my inbox. An Expat blog meet-up, always at a new location, and almost always having new people participating. Thus, I met Dennis and his wife, Quynh, for the first time. A random encounter with a touching outcome. They do charity. Several stories…
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Fashion Creation – From idea to final show
The street lights glowed in the dark as the light drizzle added a soft shine to the road leading up to Gala Royal. It was early evening, June 20th 2013, and the TK09 students from Hoa Sen’s first bachelor program of Fashion Design were about to start their graduation show “Fashion Creation”. Inside, guests were…
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SGN by SMM — Our first lacquerware collection by Studio MadsMonsen
2013 has been a busy year and Studio MadsMonsen can proudly present SGN by SMM, our new product range in lacquerware. Traditional Vietnamese handmade craftsmanship fused with Norwegian photographic vision and obtained British design skills. This is an unique gift set featuring famous motifs from SGN, Saigon, or Ho CHi Minh City, as the official…
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Making a difference – If only for a day
Walking through narrow alleyways where even the motorbikes would have their mirrors bent inwards by the walls. Retracing the steps afterwards, we would appreciated road markers left behind on the walls as we are getting lost. A maze within a small section of the town. We are in Phu Nhuan district, 5 minutes away from…
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Meeting Mr Carlos – The portrait session
Carlos is an inspiration. That had to be said. I am fortunate to be able to come across many people through my work and I have now crossed paths with Carlos. Carlos sent me an email. He needed a photographer. A few exchanges later we have agreed on what we wanted to do and he…
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“Be my Valentine” – 14th February 2013
Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you who will be out celebrating today! For those who wants to brush up on their history knowledge, here’s the Wikipedia definition.
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The Year of the Snake & The Flower market
It is the time of year Nguyen Hue street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City closes down and transforms into a flower decoration display. Time your arrival or get caught in the Tet pack. This year the guards allowed you to only walk in one direction to ensure a constant flow and not the typical…
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The Circle of Life, Art Direction revisited
Just off the presses, Word magazine’s HCMC and Hanoi edition for February 2013 are now available. It took the team a lot of work to make it happen, but we did. Regular readers may notice the design changes that we rolled out for the February editions. Yes, I am involved in magazine design again. For…
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The ice cream store and why a combo is better than a single strike
A combo is better than a single strike. I realised that when playing karate kid arcade games. The combo move was always better than the single kick or punch. Advertising agencies often have an art director/copy writer team. A killer combo of visuals and words. They realise that the team can be more creative than…
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A portrait is not a portrait – the tale of two portrait sessions
Shan arrived at the studio with her mother and Ian arrived with his business partner. They both arrived at different days. Shan lives in Singapore and wanted to have more images for her model portfolio and we had decided via email to do simple portrait/beauty style shots. Ian, on the other hand, lives in Vietnam…
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Fortune favours the prepared mind – The race for a sunset location in Tra Vinh
We roamed around the country side all day, passing fields being harvested and stopped wherever we felt would be a good location. As the daylight started to decrease its strength, we started contemplating a suitable location for a sunset shot. Something visually interesting that could serve as a silhouetted foreground. After a wild goose chase…
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The Mouse, The Snake & Facing your Fears in Tra Vinh
Saigon 5am a Friday morning. We are setting off on our road trip to our destination, Tra Vinh. 10.30am we check in to our hotel with sore buttocks. A few pitstops on the way, each one proved more and more difficult to dismount the bike as the soreness increased. It was worth it. We will…
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“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.” – Dianne Ackerman
“The master of the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which; he simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others…
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TEDxLive 2012 “Radical Openness” – TED x Mekong
Yesterday, I was fortunate to be one of the participants of the TEDxLive 2012 “Radical Openness” event that took place in cities worldwide, simultaneously streaming a live stream as part of the highlight of sharing ideas and connecting people around the world. 56 countries were connected, with over 140 cities participating. “Radical Openness”. Radical is…