C-print mounted on cardboard

lable with title and photographer, exhibition-annotations on mount verso

This photograph was most likely taken inside the Chùa Bà Thiên Hậu (Thiên Hậu Pagoda), located in the Chinese-influenced Chợ Lớn district of Saigon (present-day Ho Chi Minh City). Established around 1760 by Cantonese immigrants, the sanctuary is dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu and stands as one of Vietnam's oldest and most significant temple complexes.

​The composition is heavily defined by the monumental incense coils suspended throughout the space—known in Vietnamese as nhang vòng or nhang khoanh. Offered by worshippers and often adorned with small red prayer slips (cầu an), these coils burn slowly from the inside out over days or even weeks. In Eastern tradition, the continuously rising smoke acts as a sacred bridge carrying prayers, wishes, and gratitude to the realm of the ancestors and deities. The pagoda's architecture—featuring open, light-filled courtyards—traps the dense smoke, lending the interior a mythical, tactile depth.

​Nguyễn Ngọc Hạnh masterfully weaves together traditional ceremony, historical architecture, and brilliant light play, creating a striking document of spiritual life in 1960s Saigon.

(Christoph Fuchs)