Thoroughly Vietnam Photojournalist and Historian Offer Refreshing Look at Country of Today by Serena Lei In seemingly every photographic study of a culture, there is a picture of a Coca-Cola billboard anachronistically placed in a rural village or dominating a city bus stopóthe specter of Western culture and commercialism so ubiquitous, it should have lost its impact as social commentary. ìVietnam: Spirits of the Earth,î a documentary of present-day Vietnam by photojournalist Mary Cross and historian Frances Fitzgerald, includes one such photo. Fortunately, the rest of the exhibit is thorough and less clichÈd. Unfortunately for Coca-Cola, it is still unable to escape its role as a yardstick of globalization. ìVietnam: Spirits of the Earth,î now on display at the Meridian International Center, has been culled from a book by the same title. Cross and Fitzgerald traveled extensively across Vietnam for their research. In the exhibit, as in the book, Crossís color photographs are accompanied by Fitzgeraldís informative text. Often in the case of photography exhibits, less text is more. A bri lliant photograph needs no description. For the most part, Fitzgerald sticks to giving us historical context or draws the audience to a particular detail in the image that changes the scene. In one photograph, two giggling schoolgirls ride home on a bike. Fitzgerald explains that the red neckerchief on one of the girls signifies her membership in a socialist youth group. Photographs of funeral processions and graves set in rice paddies are supplemented with an explanation of funerary rites and ancestor worship. More telling than a Western billboard is the way makeshift, corrugated tin roofs are tacked onto intricately carved stone buildings. Berets, French bread and 19th-century French architecture blend into the Asian landscape. An old propaganda sign, uniting the Soviets and the Vietnamese as allies, remains standing, overgrown with vegetation. A woman burns a paper motorbike for her ancestors so that the dead will have transportation in heaven. The traditional, pre-colonial culture remains intact, even though Vietnam has not been isolated from the outside world. Signs of modernization and colonialism crop up, tacked onto the old, blending in but not overtaking tradition. The Vietnamese have had to become very resourceful in their means of transportation across the unique geography of their country. One of the most fascinating photographs is a picture of a bicycle impossibly loaded down with baskets, carefully balanced on each side, like overgrown woven tires nearly covering the rider. Bicycles and motorcycles crowd the streets, and merchants sell food in floating houseboats while maneuvering water traffic. Instead of taxis, the cyclo, a three-wheeled man-powered cab, is still a popular form of transportation. This exhibit presents a wide range of subjects from religion and rituals to commerce and agriculture. Although thorough, the exhibit seems lacking in depth. Still, Cross is an excellent photographer with an objective and observant eye, and Fitzgeraldís narrative complements and completes the exhibit. Americans often associate Vietnam with war and the somber pictures that connect our pasts. Cross and Fitzgerald give us a refreshingly optimistic look at Vietnam today. ìVietnam: Spirits of the Earthî runs through June 16 at the Meridian International Center, 1624 Crescent Place, NW, Wednesday to Sunday, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, please call (202) 667-6800 or visit www.meridian.org. Serena Lei is an arts writer for The Washington Diplomat.