about this project

What started out about three years ago as an idea to document a culture in a state of transition, evolved into something very much different from what I had expected. The transition I found was obvious and well documented, the roads well trodden. What I didn't expect was the transition in my personal life, as this "art project" evolved into something far deeper and more meaningful. What I didn't expect, was to discover a way of life.

Brett Skarbakka, 2011
Scratching the surface; exposing the illusion of permanence.

Hanoi is undergoing unprecedented rapid change. Major sections of the old city are systematically destroyed to be replaced by high rises, hotels, and shopping malls. The old French-style homes are gutted out, leaving house-shells scattered throughout the city. These shells are layered with family history, and memories. These images are the last documentations of anonymous lives, forever changed by progress.