Photography in Vietnam
[2] Early photographers used photography to document archaeological sites in the region, create portraits of colonial administrators and Vietnamese royalty, and capture everyday life in cities such as Saigon.
[3] Another factor that contributed to the spread of photographic technology in Vietnam was the importance of family portraits, that would be used as part of Confucian practices of ancestor worship.
[18] The division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel after the 1954 Geneva Conference not only reflected the conflicting ideologies within Vietnamese Republicanism, but also the differences in the institutional structures of news agencies.
VNA and LNA photographers were both soldiers and war correspondents, trained in military and photography techniques and answerable to the People’s Army of Vietnam.
[19] Photographs submitted to the VNA or LNA were published in local newspapers as well as publications with circulation in Eastern European states, such as the Viet Nam Pictorial.
[20] Critics have argued that this difference exhibits the decreased importance of objectivity for North Vietnamese photojournalists and desire to exercise agency in capturing images that highlight the continuation of everyday life for the civilians.
[21] However recent critiques of photography from the era, most notably by Lâm Tấn Tài (1935–2001) who founded the LNA, points to the restrictions by the North Vietnamese government that forbade the shooting of ongoing battle scenes and wounded soldiers.
[1] Key qualities of fine art photography were beauty as well as the ability to capture the essence of everyday life, specifically of the countryside as it is the only constant in the rapidly changing landscape of the country.
Opportunities were also created for increased international exposure through exhibitions and fellowship programs which has catalysed developments in fine art and documentary photography.
[25][26] Đổi Mới has also enabled the return of overseas Vietnamese (Việt Kiều) artists, who have become notable figures in the ecosystem of Contemporary art.
[1] Ho Chi Minh City College of Art and Culture would bring together notable photographers of the time to train the next generation of Contemporary practitioners.
Using a Holga, a non-professional camera known for its off-focus quality of images, Bùi created his Landscapes (1996 – ongoing) series that present diptychs of street scenes in Ho Chi Minh City.
1973) who utilises photography to create image collections such as his Motorcycles (2006 – 2007) series that documents the daily routines of Xe Ôm drivers and the changing cityscape, as well as Bui Huu Phuoc (b.
1967) whose The Red River Delta (1995 – 2005) series is an investigation of the region his family was displaced from, Maika Elan (born Nguyễn Thanh Hải) (b.
[1] In addition to reimagining the genres of photography, Contemporary art practices particularly by Việt Kiều artists have used found images as a medium.
[25] Friction exists between Việt Kiều and local-born artists, who have criticised their return to Vietnam as being self-motivated, in search for more reference materials to work with.
