Bikes Of Burden

The scene is nothing short of surreal. Food (living and dead), industrial materials and entire families drone by in a ceaseless flow. On the streets of Vietnam each morning, life rolls by. Not in cars and trucks, but on two wheels. The mind-bending variety is frightening and fascinating-and the subject of a book called Bikes of Burden by Dutch photographer Hans Kemp.

A motorcyclist out of necessity in crowded Vietnam, Hans was intrigued by the vast amount of commerce that's carried on with lightweight motorcycles. Bikes do the same jobs that cars and light trucks do here in the West. They're also the rolling lifeline for a vast amount of light industry and day-to-day commerce. Not out of choice, but out of necessity.

With few Vietnamese able to afford the luxury of a refrigerator, shopping is a daily ritual. Buying in bulk is not a viable option without a way to store food at home. Fresh food markets are scattered throughout the cities, in large part restocked early each morning by hoards of small motorcycles. With narrow streets and heavy traffic, a truck takes far longer to get to market than does a well-ridden Honda Cub. And the smaller loads carried by motorcycles suit the needs-and the scale-of local fresh food markets. The payloads these little bikes carry is only limited by Newtonian physics and outlandish ingenuity.

To illustrate his book, Kemp prowled the streets on the back of a hired motorbike taxi, leaving his hands free to concentrate on his Nikon. His favorite taxi pilot turned out to be a Mr. Minh, whose smooth riding allowed Hans to compose his shots without having to fear being thrown to the ground in the path of an oncoming load of blowfish. His photo subjects were for the most part oblivious to him-concerned more about getting their loads to market and getting on with business than avoiding the produce paparazzi.

After a year of early mornings, Hans had his photos, and left the motorcycle transports of Vietnam to go about their business unharassed. But it's a business that's in transition. In the few years that have passed since Kemp took these pictures, Vietnam has adopted a helmet law, so skid lids have replaced the baseball caps and jaunty headwear you see in these photos. And increasing affluence in Vietnam means that there are more refrigerators, wider roads and less fresh market shopping going on every day. Cars and trucks are becoming more common, and the motorcycle as do-it-all delivery vehicle is destined to gradually fade out. The change should make life a little safer on the streets of Vietnam-but a lot less interesting to watch.