This couple chose to have theirs taken on Sunday 1 July in the tall communal house of the Ba Na ethnic minority group, situated in the grounds of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi.

The house was constructed in 2003 with funds from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Germany. Traditionally the Ba Na lived in wooden houses on stilts with either thatched or tiled roofs. The communal house, called a rong, which is central to the village’s cultural activity, has a remarkable roof with steeply sloping surfaces on two sides, front and back.

In the grounds of the museum are numerous houses that typify the lives and customs of Vietnam’s ethnic minorities, both past and present, drawing visitors from around the world.

The museum has many exhibits inside which show the handcrafts, tools, weapons, clothing and utensils of the large number of groups from all areas of Vietnam.

This couple may have been celebrating their ethnic origin, but may just have liked the unique setting that will make their photographs stand out from those of any other Hanoi couple.