#carla bernhardt

[zoomvietnam-blog]

Thai and Muong tribes cohabit in the Mai Chau valley. Bamboo forests, rice fields and vegetable gardens accomodate these very friendly ethnic groups. Muong women are also renowned for their colorful weaves and work on their loom in the shade of their homes.

[zoomvietnam-blog]

Black H'mong can be recognized by their dark clothes, dyed with indigo. Their hands are often blackened by the dyes they make themselves.

They make the batiks that will be sewn on the clothes. They learn this technique at very young age and practice during their free time. On a hemp roll, they draw geometric, abstract, vegetal forms with a bamboo stylus and a mixture of wax and ink.

[hannahsecretchamber]

(part 1)

Carla Bernhardt was born in 1914 the microcosm of wealthy pure-blooded European families. Said families caring more about maintaining their blood purity and social status than about muggle borders, Carla had relatives in Portugal and Russia, in Egypt and Norway, and pretty much everywhere in between. As is tradition, she was homeschooled by private tutors, and spent most of her youth in her maternal family hometown, Florence, until she was old enough to travel with her parents and joyfully socialize with the finest witches and wizards of the continent. She would only join one of the main magical schools around the age of 16 (in her case, Koldovstoretz) to obtain a pointless degree that Ministries and idiots like so much.

It would have been all grand and uneventful if Carlotta wasn’t an excessively gifted Legilimens. At the age of two, she could already sense other people’s thoughts as if they were her own. At four, she could willingly read people’s mind. At six, she could affect their thoughts and actions. Every member of the high wizarding society learns Occlumency at a young age - still, her growing powers rapidly became a problem. Children of her age feared her, friends and family became distant, tutors resigned one after the other. Carlotta wasn’t malicious and never cruel. Simply, she saw no reason to bridle natural abilities that were so intimately part of herself, just because other people were squeamish and narrow minded. 

Incidentally, Grindelwald was still ravaging Europe. Even the most privileged wizards and witches were disheartened by ten years of “rather displeasing events”. As people grew suspicious and scared, invitations and travels become rare. The Bernhardts grew particularly protective and discreet about their beloved daughter, as they feared she could be recruited and used as a weapon of sort. Carla frankly didn’t care about all that - political awareness and empathy were not her strong suits. She was dying to become independent and live her life, and eventually escaped to travel on her own.

[zoomvietnam-blog]

ISSUE #02 - September 2018

ETHNIC MINORITIES IN NORTHERN VIETNAM

Photos & stories by Carla Bernhardt

Carla Bernhardt is a photographer and travel blogger based in Guadeloupe. She has spent a two-weeks vacation in Vietnam in August, 2018. 

“Photography is a passion, an integral part of my everyday life, no matter where it is. Opening my eyes to what surrounds me allows me to marvel all the time, when traveling it is even more true as we arrive with a fresh look and all senses awake. 

Discovering a new country fascinates me! We have so much to learn from others ... Walking around a big city, being dazzled by the beauty of a landscape are all sources of inspiration and creation, it is rewarding and it makes me always more curious”. 

In this issue, Zoom Vietnam invite you to follow Carla on her trip to visit ethnic minorities living in Northern Vietnam. 

***

READ ISSUE #01 - June 2018 - MEKONG DELTA - HERE   

[zoomvietnam-blog]

This mountainous and isolated region in Northern Vietnam is home to about 53 ethnic groups (approximately 14 million Highlanders, another name for these communities).

[zoomvietnam-blog]

Discovering these ethnic groups living in the heart of remote areas, very close to nature and ancestral traditions, was an incredible experience. It was a journey rich in discoveries but also full of wonders and emotions.

[zoomvietnam-blog]

Meeting these communities was also discovering Vietnam’s highlands, wearing hiking shoes and traveling the paths accross forests and rice fields to be subjugated by majestic landscapes. 

It was getting ready to meet the Other in all its greatness and diversity, discovering habitats of great simplicity, being ready to experience moments that change us, make you richer and more modest at a time.

We met people who generously shared their wealth and smiles. This one is universal, the language is no longer a barrier, the essential is elsewhere. It is certainly the most beautiful of exchanges, the one that is kept in the depths of oneself and that makes one different.

[zoomvietnam-blog]

These minority ethnic groups are distinguished from each other by their outfits, finely adorned and often hand-woven, their beliefs, their language and their customs.