Other Streets

The Vietnamese Boat People

Mark Erickson (Đỗ Văn Hùng) was born in Saigon in 1972 and put up for adoption at two and a half years old. He arrived in the United States as part of the American program Operation Baby Lift and was adopted by a white couple living in Buffalo, New York. Mark grew up in a predominantly white suburban neighborhood and what he knew about Vietnam was through movies and stories told through an American lens. When he moved to Boston for college he discovered a Vietnamese community in Dorchester, got to travel to Vietnam and began to explore his Vietnamese identity through his 35mm camera. Mark shares his journey in embracing his Vietnamese heritage, learning about his birth family and the making of his photo books Other Streets: Scenes from a Life in Vietnam not Lived and Dorchester. http://www.markferickson.com