Spending millions to take self-deprecating photos
In recent years, the situation of "sold out" photographers in Dien Bien has been quite common. In addition to hiring a main photographer to take souvenir photos for the whole class, many students are willing to spend more to hire a rieng photographer.
Talking to reporters, Van Thi Xia - a 12th grade student at Dien Bien District Boarding High School for Ethnic Minorities - said: "My class has 37 students, because in January 2025, I could not book a service in the province, so I had to book a photographer from Hanoi to take souvenir photos. Each student costs 700,000 VND. In which, the photo opportunity package includes a bachelor's ao dai, a vest and a youth concept set".
According to Xia, in addition to the team of 2 people taking photos and 1 filming for the whole class, there are about 10 students hiring a private photographer for prices ranging from 1 to 1.5 million VND/session. Finding a private photographer is very difficult because the photographers schedule is full. I have to ask an acquaintance to introduce me to find a suitable photographer" - Xia said.
The female student added that to ensure a quality photographer, the class needs to book a few months in advance. If booked late, finding a photographer and makeup artist will be very difficult.
In addition to the cost of hiring a photographer, students also have to pay for makeup costs of about 200,000 - 300,000 VND. In total, each student has to spend about 2 - 2.5 million VND for a set of self-respecting photos when hiring a separate "flash". To save costs, some students have chosen to hire a photographer for 800,000 VND/person for a whole day of taking photos.
Photographers run around
January to March is considered the "golden" time for photo shops in Dien Bien when the restaurant is closed all week. The need to hire a private photographer to create unique and impressive photos with Ban flower, plum blossoms, portrait photos... makes many photographers here work continuously from morning to night, even without a day off.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Binh - owner of Studio Pan wedding in Dien Bien Phu City - said: "Currently, the studio has 8 employees but still needs to recruit 4 more people to meet the workload. In addition to taking photos to discipline, the studio also accepts wedding photos and outdoor photos. This job requires passion and hard work, but also brings a stable income, an average of 15 million VND/month".
According to photographers, the average price for self-medication photos ranges from 300,000 - 700,000 VND/student, depending on the class size and customer requirements. To get beautiful and impressive photo sets, studios often work in teams of 3-4 people.
Not only studios but also young photographers are sought after. Tran Duc Kien - a 12th grade student in Dien Bien Phu City - took the opportunity to take photos on weekends for over 500,000 VND/session. Since the beginning of the year, Kien has earned more than 10 million VND thanks to this job.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Ha - a freelance photographer in Dien Bien Phu City - said: "After the cherry blossom season, we entered the plum blossom and Ban flower season and it was also the culinary photography season. On peak days, I can receive 3 customers/day. Along with that, services such as renting clothes, accessories and makeup have also increased.
