Difficult Lives - Are they happy?

These are the photos I took during my travels around Vietnam. And this is also one of my favorite photography subjects. I love shooting about other people's lives, especially about the lives of workers. They can be farmers, workers, street vendors or transporters... They can be in the city or in the countryside. But for me they have a strange attraction. Maybe because I see my mother in them.

Do you wonder if they are happy? Actually, I have been in contact with a lot of them, and the one I understand the most is my mother. Although life is difficult, they always smile and have faith in life. Their happiness is simple. They are happy to have people buy their goods. They are happy to finish a working day. They are happy that when they return home they can see their family. They are happy that their children do well in school...

And they always have a strong belief in life. In Vietnam we have a saying "Hi sinh đời bố, củng cố đời con", it means that parents can sacrifice everything so that their children will have a better life. If you have the opportunity to interact with them, you will see it clearly. They can do the hardest jobs, they can spend their whole lives working hard just to expect their children to go to school and have a better life. Therefore, in my eyes, they are always very beautiful.