The Saigon Waterfront
The Saigon River & Ben Nghe Channel - 1971

A Photo Essay in Color by Lawrence Stepanowicz

During 1971-1972, I was an Army Signal Corps Photographer assigned to a support unit of the First Aviation Brigade at MACV Annex near the Tan Son Nuit Airbase, Saigon, Republic of Vietnam. Sunday was usually a day off, and a good day for taking pictures of my own. On the Sunday these photos were taken, some buddies of mine from First Signal Brigade who had a jeep, invited me to take a ride out along the waterfront with them. I generally shot Tri-X black and white (when the PX had it, which wasn't very often) but this area of the city cried out for color, and Kodachrome.
Cargo Boat With Flag Ben Nghe Channel - Saigon

 A cargo boat anchored in the Ben Nghe Channel
flies the flag of the Republic of Vietnam.


Boats and buildings. Ben Nghe Channel. Saigon, South Viet Nam




With refugees streaming in from the countryside, tin-roofed shanty homes spread from the street into the channel.






Boats & Shanty Homes, Ben Nghe Channel, Saigon, Vietnam





Wooden houseboats crowded into a Ben Nghe Channel nook.







Buildings & Reflections Ben Nghe Channel Saigon

Buildings and shanty homes
reflected in the Ben Nghe Channel.


Cargo boat and worker at Saigon River dry dock. Saigon, South Vietnam

A worker at the Saigon River dry docks
examines a cargo boat under repair.


Boys Playing At Saigon River Dry Docks




Boys playing at the Saigon River dry docks stop and pose when they see the American.






Men bating in the Ben Nghe Channel



These men walked into the channel with towels around their waists, removed the towels and washed in its water.






Family Being Boated Across Saigon River




A family being boated across the Saigon River in a hired boat.






River Boat Operator Saigon River




A river boat operator on the Saigon River.







Saigon River Rice Mills




The Saigon River, Saigon, with litter in the foreground and rice mills in the distance.






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