Buổi 49: Speaking – Âm nhạc, nghệ thuật & một tác phẩm bạn thích

Bài mẫu do khóa học viết; bức ảnh và triển lãm là giả định.

I’d like to describe a black-and-white photograph I saw at a small exhibition in a café in Hanoi about two years ago. I don’t remember the photographer’s name, unfortunately, but the image itself has stayed with me.

It shows an elderly woman selling vegetables at a market very early in the morning. She’s sitting on a low plastic stool under a single light bulb, and everything around her is dark except for her face and her hands, which are arranging bunches of herbs. What makes it so striking is the contrast – the light is very soft, but you can see every line on her face.

I think I like it for two reasons. First, it’s very simple. There’s no dramatic action; it’s just an ordinary moment that most people walk past without noticing. The photographer made me look at something I see almost every day in a completely different way.

Second, it evokes a lot of memories for me. My grandmother used to get up at four to sell vegetables when my mother was young, and although I never saw her do it, the photo made me imagine what her mornings must have been like. I actually went back to the café a week later to look at it again, which is something I’ve never done with any other piece of art.