Two drag queens lip sync to ABBA’s international hit “Happy New Year” a few minutes before midnight on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024 in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. While Vietnam’s culture, traditions and society are generally considered to be conservative, same-sex relationships have been legal throughout nearly all of Vietnam’s history.
A child sits on his father’s shoulders watching fireworks at midnight on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. While the city’s standard New Year celebrations are large, the country’s celebrations for Lunar New Year, or Tet, on January 29, are significantly larger.
Crowds disperse after the New Year's countdown in downtown District 1 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. The city’s population is tallied at 8.9 million, with 750,000 tourists in the city at midnight, according to one of Vietnam’s biggest newspapers, Vietnam Plus.
A group of friends pose just after midnight while celebrating the New Year on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The group of 18 and 19-year-olds met in high school and go to different colleges throughout Ho Chi Minh City, but keep in touch with each other and meet up every so often.
Lights are removed from scaffolding in Nguyen Hue walking street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, less than an hour after one of the city's New Years celebrations ended. Employees are not tethered, though they work over 30 feet above the ground.
A woman digs through her purse in front of an ATM across from a security guard at the front gate of an office building in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. The building serves as a headquarters for many major companies, including Ajinomoto food service, Ngoc Phu Investment, SSI Security and OCB stock trading.
A shopkeeper mops the patio tiles of his pho shop on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He serves pho, a soup made with beef stock, rice noodles, and slices of beef or chicken.
A sun bear, which is a species on the verge of extinction in Vietnam, looks up at zoo-goers at the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. The enclosure for the sun bears are some of the best in the zoo, though they still have rats, and no zookeeper on post to keep children and adults alike from tossing the bears human food like crackers, wafers and bananas.
A woman takes a picture of a white tiger at the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. The zoo is one of the oldest continuously operating zoos in the world, with a ticket priced at 2 USD for adults. The zoo is accredited by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, though concerns have been raised online about the proper treatment of their animals.
A woman sweeps the hallway in Nguyen Thien Thuat, also nicknamed “old apartments” in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. The apartments were built in 1968 to house US soldiers during the Vietnam War, and are now known to be a hub for retirees, shopkeepers and street vendors.
Shoppers carry food to and from vendors at Nguyen Thien Thuat in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. When a purchase is made, shoppers will give vendors their phone number or home address and schedule a time for the vendor to pick up the loaned dinnerware.
A motorcyclist turns down a street in Nguyen Thien Thuat of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. The neighborhood is layered with many different parts of Vietnam’s history, featuring Chinese and Vietnamese pagodas, communist flags and the old apartments.
A daughter feeds her elderly mother chicken and rice next to their seated dog on their street-level patio in Nguyen Thien Thuat apartments on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Families often live together through adulthood, and don’t view domesticated animals as pets: rather as watchdogs or food.
A street vendor leans on his motorbike selling Tao Ba Moi, a fruit that looks like an apple or pear but has a pit, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. He sells 2.2 lbs for 39 cents, or 1 kg for 10,000 dong.
A vendor sells kitchen wares in the Binh Tay market in the western Chinatown district of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Thursday, January 2, 2025. According to posted signs in the market, there are about 600 different shops with a total floor area spanning 6.2 acres.
A woman hangs goods on the wall of her shop in the Binh Tay market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Thursday, January 2, 2025. Shops at the market sell clothing, household items, souvenirs, produce and traditional medicinal items.
A Ho Chi Minh City resident places incense onto an altar at the center of Binh Tay market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Thursday, January 2, 2025. The altar is a place for vendors to pray to the market’s founder, Quach Dam, for financial blessings and success for their businesses.
A vendor sits in front of her merchandise, souvenir t-shirts, counting her money on Thursday, January 2, 2025 in the Binh Tay market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Lâm Phân, a caterer, prepares fried prawns for a child’s first birthday party in Tra Vinh, Vietnam on Saturday, January 4, 2025. The first birthday is a huge occasion for Vietnamese children, called Thôi Nôi, or “leaving the cradle,” signifying the first day of a new stage of life.
Koi fish eat food pellets in a private, manmade pond on Con Ho island, an eco-tourism spot in Vietnam on Sunday, January 12, 2025. The fish often live 15-30 years in captivity, with some documented at over 100 years old, though in the wild they look much different and can be expected to live to about 10 years.
Included below are five more photos to be printed and posted at the public presentation at the time of publication. After the presentation, they will be moved to UNL Pound Hall's Buffett Photo Gallery.
