Merchants in Motion

About the Author

Loes Heerink (1989) is a Dutch photographer coming from a small town in the Netherlands, Losser.

She lived in Vietnam a couple of years where she started the series 'Merchants in Motion'.
Her work is usually a collection of images of one kind.
She takes a subject of her interest and turns it into a project.
Merchants in Motion is her first series.
'Shops of Vietnam', 'Heterchromia', 'Farmers and Growers' are the other series she is working on.

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About the book

The first thing I saw when I arrived in Hanoi were the vendors everywhere. The beatiful colours and so much stuff packed on one singe bicycle. I thought of my mum, and I how I would sometimes get upset with her. For the simple reason of having to carry far more groceries home than I thought I could carry on my bicycle. I felt bad for a second. Then I thought of the moment I got my first bicycle. I think it was on my fifth birthday. My twin sister and I walked out of the front door and there it was. A beatiful bicycle. My grandparents got it for us. We took it for a ride around the clock together. One of us cycling, the other one running along. When we came back to the house there was another bicycle! I remember being so happy. My obsession with the cycling vendors was born that day and I never let it go.

“On numerous occasions I tried to take a picture of the vendors. But I wasn’t happy with the results. There was too much going on in the back ground: stores, people, trees, trash, houses, mo- torbikes. I decided to find a higher vantage point and eliminate all the background noise and just have the bike and the vendor in the photograph. While waiting on the bridges my obsession grew. From above you could perfectly see how well everything was arranged. And because I was spending so much time waiting I got a glimpse in the lives of the vendors. They talked a lot to each other, greeted each other and sometimes I saw vendors who were walking together. I even got to talk to some of the vendors. Such incredible stories! And they were so nice and grateful. And I loved how they just opened up to me. These women were away from home a lot, had to work so hard for many hours and when I asked how they felt about their work they told me they liked the fl exibility! It made me feel a little bit spoiled. If I had to walk 20km every day carrying around 50kg on my shoulders, I think it would break my back! I have so much respect for these vendors. I can’t believe they let me into their lives by telling me their story. And now I get to tell it to you.

Loes Heering