France didn't colonize Vietnam overnight.
From infrastructure initiatives that included roads, bridges and dams to farming operations and marketplace architecture, France's decades-long dominion over its colony produced some profound changes but they took time. And before they could effectively modify urban and rural landscapes, they needed to survey it. Such exploration has resulted in a large number of photographs of the region taken by officials and hobbyists alike that reveal the country before it was significantly altered by European intrusion.
This collection of photos from 1899 focuses on both urban and agrarian settings. While shot in black and white, it's impossible to not recognize how they burst with greenery. One can practically smell the freshly tilled paddy muck and taste the brick dust wafting off of construction sites.
Get a glimpse of Vietnam as it was undergoing its transformation at the beginning of colonization in these photograph.
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