British photographer Andy Soloman is bringing his 1990s documentation of Vietnam to Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, where a new exhibition and hotel art collection capture a rapidly transforming capital during its transition away from the subsidy era.
Photojournalist Andy Soloman first arrived in Hanoi in October 1992 at the age of 30. During his travels across the country, he documented daily existence through its streets, markets, schools, and factories, eventually joining Reuters in 1997. Now, more than three decades later, sixteen signed, limited-edition prints from that era have been acquired by Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi as part of its 125th-anniversary programme.
The resulting exhibition, titled Hanoi: Traces of Time, runs at the hotel from October 9 to December 9, 2026. Prints from the collection are also available for purchase in various sizes, each limited to 25 copies.
Capturing Hanoi on the Threshold of Change
Soloman’s collection preserves a specific transitional window in Vietnamese history. The images record urban architecture and human connection at a time when the remnants of the subsidy-based economy still lingered while society accelerated into rapid economic reform. Early 1990s Hanoi emerges as rustic and intimate through works capturing early morning exercises, cyclo riders in the Old Quarter, Dong Xuan Market, Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, and the delivery of draught beer by cyclo.
His travels extended far beyond the capital, taking him across mountainous northern regions, border areas, coastal zones, and the Central Highlands to document village life, rural areas, hospitals, and spontaneous roadside encounters. The photographic archive spans from 1992 to 1998, capturing mundane and monumental scenes alike. In November 1992, Soloman photographed cyclo drivers relaxing in front of a shuttered colonial-era doorway. Another striking frame from the Binh Da firecracker market in 1993 shows men inspecting long strips of firecrackers laid across woven mats.
Among the most evocative pieces is an April 1998 photograph taken in Ba Dinh titled Heroic Mothers
. The image features women in headscarves with medals pinned to their tunics, standing in front of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
Soloman Metropole Collection Captures Portraits Across Thirty Years
The collaboration with the hotel extends beyond the exhibition walls. The 16 acquired works now form part of the Soloman Metropole art collection, acquired to mark the property’s 125th anniversary as a historic hotel.
Began in 2022, Continuum: Vietnam seeks out the original subjects of Soloman’s 1990s photographs to capture contemporary portraits of them. By placing the historical images side-by-side with current portraits, the project builds a visual dialogue across a span of more than thirty years.
Today, Soloman divides his time between the United Kingdom and Vietnam. Interested members of the public can register to attend his Metropole Hanoi talk via Eventbrite.