Boat Builder Steams Ribs in Shrine Thủ Đức

Soft overcast light falls through the wet air of an early morning drizzle, illuminating a boat builder working within a shrine lined with hanging lanterns in Thủ Đức. Steam rises in thick, white plumes from a large wooden trough, curling around the curved wooden ribs the man holds with gloved hands to bend them into shape. The lanterns glow with a warm, muted orange against the cool gray of the wet stone floor and the dark, damp wood of the hull. Raindrops bead on the polished surfaces of the tools resting nearby, while the steam creates a hazy texture between the worker and the rows of lanterns. at the edge is one drop of water tracing a path down the side of a ceramic lantern base.