As I made this image, this rice farmer turned to look at me. He had a small cigar in his mouth, and his reflection in the rice paddy gave me two for the price of one. He seems to express a sense of jaunty pride – the job is physically brutal, muddy, and wet, but he seems to enjoy what he does. I showed this image to a student at Hanoi University and she told me that her mother was also a rice farmer. She said the image told the truth about the work at hand. As a photographic communicator, I feel an obligation to get the story right, and in this case, I think I’ve done so.