The village, 35 kms from Hanoi, that upholds the tradition of incense-making for more than 100 years, is awash with vibrance, colour and spectacle! To Vietnamese, burning incense is the traditional ritual meant to build a bridge between the visible life of the present and the spiritual world of gods and past generations. Burning incense, daily – at home, temples or pagodas – is the first thing to do to establish an environment conducive to spiritual elevation and attract spirit attention!

Red and pink are the primary hues on display, but some green, purple and yellow have slipped in as well. Portraits of villagers and workers against colour-rich backgrounds, pics of incense set out to dry in various formations… make for brilliant and visually arresting photos. Making incense generates income for about 3,000 households, 70% of the village. 200 tonnes of bamboo is consumed daily in incense production. Wowsers!!

How do you make incense you ask? By first chopping bamboo into thin small smooth sticks, soaking in water for days and then drying them, before partially dipping the sticks in hot liquid dyes, letting them dry outdoors, mixing eucalyptus/cinnamon barks; clove roots; star anise and other aromatics with water and glue powder and applying the resultant incense paste to the sticks (the most difficult part of the process), and finally sun-drying one more time.