Trà My Nguyen Hoang photographs Dublin like no one else

Trà My Nguyen Hoang grew up in Hanoi Vietnam, but college took her to Dublin — now she photographs the city she fell in love with.

May 17, 2025 - 09:12

Trà My Nguyen Hoang photographs Dublin like no one else

Photographer and journalist Trà My Nguyen Hoang grew up in Hanoi, Vietnam. College took her to Dublin – similar to her father, who moved to the city in the 1990s for business school before returning home. Unlike her father, Nguyen Hoang stayed in Ireland and after 12 years in Dublin received her citizenship in 2024.

“With any city, when you first move there's always this really awkward first phase," said Nguyen Hoang, "It’s like dating. You don't quite know each other. You just try it out, see what works and what doesn't work. And you meet other people who also love the city, and it becomes love by osmosis. You can feel how much other people love it here that gets you to love it, too. But it's like a relationship. You have to tend to it. Now I’ve found my little corner and I tend to it, and my work kind of grew from there.”

Left image: The back of a woman under and umbrella in front of a flower stall; right image: Two women talking while seated underneath a willow tree by a river.

The side of the bus with three windows framing passengers with a window reflection of the city.

Left image: A woman in a flower hat, and right, people sunbathing on a concrete pier near the water, three people are swimming

Nguyen Hoang started using her camera to document life in Dublin and share experiences with her family. "They still live in Vietnam and since I’ve been here, Instagram has become a really constant connection outside of phone calls and texts," she said. "Photography is my daily diary: Here's what I saw that day. Here's what I will remember. It's an act of commemoration and remembrance.”

Left image: Men in green shamrock suits and hats in front of a bar on St Patrick's Day; right image: Two hands pouring tea from a kettle to a cup, there's chocolate cake on the table.

As happens with any place we stay for a long time, things change and we have to remind ourselves what brought us there. “You have to keep going," Nguyen Hoang said. "Because if you stop, it's so easy to fall out of love with a city. There's moments where you kind of go, 'Oh you know, all my friends are moving away. Things are getting really expensive, or the weather is bad.' But on sunny days, where else would you want to be but Dublin?”

Two people walk past a meat store called F.X. Buckley while the photographer is reflected in a mirror

Left image: A woman in red walks past a newsstand under a red awning that says newsweek; right image: Two women sitting at the edge of a pond in a public park.

Nguyen Hoang has a routine that takes her throughout the city, but challenges herself to keep her photographic eye fresh. “The game is, what different things can I photograph on the same corner day in, day out? It’s those little moments that remind me that, oh, yeah, this is still a really fun city to be in,” she said.

“It’s the highest compliment when someone says my pictures make them miss Dublin and remind them of how lovely it can be. I definitely romanticize it, but that’s how I see the city. I don't want to live anywhere else.”

Left image: A woman reading in a chair by a red and yellow structure; right image: A woman walking in the rain with a crowd of people in umbrellas over a city bridge

Reflection in a river of people walking on a bridge over the water.