There are 54 different recognised minority groups in northern Vietnam, on the border with China, most of them concentrated in the mountainous Province of Lào Cai. This cultural richness is little known to the wider public, and doomed to be cannibalised by mass tourism combined with exceedingly difficult life conditions: poverty and illiteracy are made harsher by a series of restrictions that limit mobility and education opportunities for the local population. This travel reportage is meant to document the everyday life of a Red Dao family, a people with rich cultural traditions.
Piero Zilio is a Sardinian photographer with a keen interest in adventurous travel reportages, often accomplished with limited resources, in rough conditions and sometimes risky situations. He documents tourist and less well-known destinations from the perspective of the local people, with attention to small life experiences. His works are propelled by a down-to-earth yet passionate thirst for discovery. Since 2001, Piero has travelled to and documented through analogue and digital photography life scenes in Asia, Africa, South America and Oceania.
