Balancing Act
Hanoi, Vietnam, February 2001

In the Old Quarter of Hanoi, bustling vegetable markets stand back-to-back with crowded internet cafes, bicycles still outnumber cars fifty to one, and disheveled backpackers share the narrow streets with merchant families who have lived there for generations.  For two weeks, I rented a bare second-floor room with a rusted bed and a showerhead that convulsed above me as I bathed.  But the room did have a small balcony overlooking the street.  And early one morning, I caught a photo of this man, effortlessly balancing two baskets of apples and oranges on his way to the market.