Mekong Terra Studio is run by a small team of photographers, researchers and editors who live and work along the delta. We maintain the archive, conduct field research and coordinate commissioned documentation for heritage projects and regional publications.
Field notes and archive milestones
Initial documentation trips along the Hau River, starting with the floating markets near Can Tho and the stilt-house settlements of Vinh Long.
Completed a six-week visual study of Cai Rang market, cataloging over 4,000 frames of boat-to-boat trade, seasonal produce, and trader portraits.
Followed three farming families through a full planting-to-harvest cycle, documenting the labor, tools, and rituals of delta rice cultivation.
Published a structured survey of stilt houses, floating homes, and riverbank structures, with measured drawings and material notes.
Partnered with a regional cultural foundation to document endangered craft villages and oral histories along the Tien River.
Opened the online portfolio with curated photo essays, field notes, and a print-on-demand catalog for researchers and collectors.
Field partners and editorial collaborators
Mekong Cultural Heritage Initiative — long-term documentation of stilt-house settlements in An Giang province.
Delta Wetlands Research Group — seasonal flood photography for climate adaptation reports and public exhibitions.
Saigon Riverine Journal — commissioned photo essays on floating market traders and river transport networks.
Can Tho Museum of Folk Life — archival prints and field notes for the permanent gallery on riverine daily life.
Mekong Delta Artisan Fisheries Network — visual documentation of net-weaving workshops and fishing cooperatives.
Field notes from the archive
Mekong Terra began as a single camera bag and a notebook on a Cai Rang sampan. Over the years, it became a working archive, a commissioning practice, and a quiet argument for slower, more honest documentation of the delta.
Three months spent riding cargo boats between Can Tho and Tra Vinh. No assignments, no deadlines, just exposure tests and field notes. That first contact roll shaped the visual language the studio still uses: deep teal water, ochre hulls, rice-paper light.
A full season documenting Cai Rang before dawn. The resulting photo essay ran in a regional journal and led to the first commissioned work from a heritage foundation. This was the moment the archive stopped being a personal project and became a shared resource.
After several requests from NGOs, the studio wrote down its working rules: consent before framing, captions reviewed by subjects, no staged scenes. These guidelines now accompany every commission and are published openly for other documentarians.
Selected negatives from the first five years were printed as a limited exhibition catalog. The run sold out through local bookshops and a small gallery in Saigon, funding the next field season in the mangrove districts of Ben Tre.
With over four thousand negatives digitized, the studio opened a public index of its work. Researchers, students, and editors can now search the collection by region, season, and subject, while prints remain available directly from the archive.