Seeing red in Tam Son Hoi Quan

pagoda-hopping in Vietnam part 2
part 1: Thien Hau

I wasn’t aware of it until I saw my pictures. The temple of Tam Son Hoi Quan in the Chinatown district of Cholon, Saigon was dripping red.

The gate and fence, white-washed in portions, were pink. The facade had stucco walls in softer carmine but the pillars stood out in a fierier shade of red.


the main entrance of the pagoda
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1250s, f/4.0, 18mm, ISO 200, -2/3EV


The pair of wooden doors was also in red and no less brighter.


the main door has cheerful handles/knockers
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/25s, f/5.0, 28mm, ISO 400, -1/3EV


Inside, the soft red-orange motif continued to spill over the walls, the carved wooden altars and the brick tiles. On places where red was interrupted, gold and black, colors that are no less eye-catching, were splashed.



the central altar
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/25s, f/5.0, 18mm, ISO 1600, -1/3EV


This more-than-a-hundred-year-old pagoda is one of the feminine temples in Saigon. Local women often visit the place to seek blessings for their children from Me Sanh, the Goddess of Fertility. And in China, fertility is symbolized by nothing less than the color red.


a goddess prominently placed in niche by the side wall
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/60s, f/5.0, 80mm, ISO 200



Buddhist deities in a side altar
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/20s, f/5.0, 18mm, ISO 1600, -1/3EV


Instinctively, red demands power and harks for fortune and success. The visual stimulation of fire is innate and for photographers, nothing really can scream more than red.


the incense coils are a shadow before the red walls
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1000s, f/5.0, 210mm, ISO 200, -4/3EV



this is the same shot as above, with focus on the coils
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/640s, f/5.0, 210mm, ISO 200, -2/3EV