For most of 1992, the Vietnamese Project was a study of a fascinating culture. I first noticed the "little Saigon" that was growing around the Point Cadet area of Biloxi. That area had always served as a melting pot for immigrants who moved to Mississippi. It was no different for the Vietnamese people.

I spent an entire year chronicling life in the Vietnamese community. If something happened with the Vietnamese, I was usually there. I covered a traditionally Vietnamese Catholic wedding, a Buddhist funeral and many events that centered on East End Homes.

When the stories ran in the Sun Herald, it was a seven-day, 52-picture project that was driven in part by the photos. It was an effort that I have always been extremely proud of producing.

After the project ran in the paper, it seemed to take on a life of its own. A portfolio of photos became a museum display at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Biloxi. A year later, the project was awarded a Knight Foundation/National Endowment of the Arts grant that allowed the museum show to travel around the country.

Since Hurricane Katrina, the Vietnamese project has taken on an even more special meaning. Many of the places in the photographs were destroyed by the storm. The pictures serve as a historical record of a time gone by -- never to return.

Tim Isbell
February 2006