(NADS) - Artist Hoang Kim Dang, a teacher, a soldier returned from the war-torn Truong Son. Perhaps soldiers returning from the battlefield in general and the dangerous Truong Son in particular, always carry their own unique temperament.
Hoang Kim Dang was born and raised in the land of Pho Hien longan, which used to be bustling with boats and docks. He was a good teacher, and was the principal when he was only 25 years old. The Minister of Education Nguyen Van Huyen visited the school, awarded him the "Two Good" emulation flag and a certificate of merit.
He vowed to live his whole life for the children, but when the resistance war against the US entered an extremely fierce phase, listening to the call for the General Mobilization of the Fatherland, teacher Hoang Kim Dang said goodbye to his children, goodbye to his beloved school, far from his homeland, enthusiastically shouldered his backpack and headed to the South to fight. And he stopped at the majestic Truong Son, carrying out the duty of an engineer soldier of the 559th Group Command, under the strategic command of Commander Dong Sy Nguyen. Shortly after, due to his declining health, he was transferred to work as a photojournalist for the Truong Son Newspaper, along with the late poet Pham Tien Duat, the late writer Le Luu... Here, with his talent, he captured vivid, brave moments of the heroic Truong Son troops, fighting bravely day and night, maintaining a smooth traffic flow to support the Southern battlefield.
After nearly 10 years of fighting in Truong Son. In 1974, Hoang Kim Dang was transferred to work for the Literature and Arts newspaper (Vietnam Writers Association). Here, Hoang Kim Dang worked as both an editor and a photojournalist. In 1980, he moved to work as the first editorial secretary of the Hanoi People newspaper founded by writer To Hoai and as Editor-in-Chief. In 1989, he was appointed as a permanent member of the Secretariat of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists. In 1994, Hoang Kim Dang was assigned to work as a specialist in the Central Ideology and Culture Department (now the Propaganda Department). In 2000, at the age of 60, he retired.
He said he was retired, but in reality he never had a day off. After writing, he picked up his camera and went out to take pictures, following the call of his profession. As a journalist and a photojournalist, in addition to demanding the realism of the photos, he also sought to express his work so that the photo had high artistic value, had the power to spread widely, attract viewers, be recognized by many people, and become a lifetime work. Especially in the field of portrait photography, he had some top-notch works. That must be the photo of the eldest brother of the Vietnam People's Army - Mr. Van - General Vo Nguyen Giap, who had never attended any military school, raising his hand to salute the country, with the radiant smile of a winner who created a " Dien Bien Phu that shook the world " and the Great Victory of Spring 1975, the country was unified, defeated two great empires, France and the United States, and defeated 10 French and American generals.
The public also cannot forget the portrait of writer Nguyen Tuan. In just a split second, he highlighted the spirit of Nguyen Tuan, making him exclaim when he received his portrait from artist Hoang Kim Dang and he wrote: " If I were young, I would happily follow Hoang Kim Dang to take portraits of people and landscapes of my country. Dang "takes" very well ."
The public who loves the art of light as well as colleagues will always remember the portrait of the writer “ Vang bong mot thoi ” Nguyen Tuan by artist Hoang Kim Dang. With a bright face, a high, wide forehead, enough to say all the famous creative career of the writer “ Song Da do ”; “ Hanoi we are good at fighting the Americans ”!
Many writers, poets, and journalists told me that Hoang Kim Dang is a photographer who has achieved many successes in the field of art photography, especially art portrait photography. True! But according to the author of this article, not only in the field of visual culture (photography), having organized four personal art photography exhibitions, but also in the pages of Hoang Kim Dang's books, he has achieved many remarkable successes. First of all, we must mention the books " Glory of Vietnamese Art Photography "; " Love of Poetry - Art Photography "; " A Perspective of the Country " (Notes - Reportage and Essays); "Art Photography - Reality and Creativity" which I have introduced in the newspaper... These books were introduced to readers right when artist Hoang Kim Dang turned 80, the age of "thất thập cổ lai hy". Having contracted severe malaria in Truong Son, during the years of living and fighting here, his health declined a lot, but his ability to work did not decrease at all. He still worked hard all day long and wrote with the spirit of a Truong Son soldier in the past to promptly introduce to readers the book " Shining the Southern Land and Sky ", which the author of this article had the honor of receiving as a gift from the author.
“ Shining the land and sky of the South ” is a short name but has many profound meanings. The book is presented solemnly, eye-catching, quite thick, nearly 500 pages, size 20 x 25 cm, printed on good paper, with 4-color offset printing technique, published by the Vietnam Writers Association Publishing House at the end of 2024. “ Shining the land and sky of the South ” is a new genre, including articles, photos, autographs, and signatures of famous people in the hearts of the public. Artist Hoang Kim Dang said that in order to introduce this book to readers, the artist had to spend many years collecting, accumulating, arranging, and editing documents with the sole purpose of giving the public a more comprehensive and clearer view of the country's sages.
The work “ Shining the Southern Sky and Land ” has just left the printing house, at the same time the Vietnam Writers Association Publishing House organized a rather grand book launch. Attending this event were many writers, artists, journalists, leaders of the Vietnam Writers Association such as Chairman Nguyen Quang Thieu, Vice Chairman - poet Tran Dang Khoa; Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations: poet Huu Thinh, poet Bang Viet, writer, painter, musician - Lieutenant General Huu Uoc and many friends and colleagues.
The book's uniqueness is not only in the written pages but also in the illustrations for the stories about famous figures in society, including writers, poets, political, cultural, scientific activists, heroic generals of the people's armed forces... Although not all the typical faces of the country are complete, but just with these people, portrayed by artist Hoang Kim Dang with the lens and "sharp pen - pure heart", it has brought to the public an overview of the nature of the Vietnamese people, extremely intelligent but honest, simple, wholeheartedly serving the people, serving the Fatherland. At the same time, through the written pages and photos, readers can see more clearly the talent of the writer and cameraman of artist Hoang Kim Dang. These two types complement each other, making the book come alive, clarifying every corner of the life and career of each character.
With a young age of less than a century, and having experienced many fields of work: teacher, soldier, journalist... has helped artist Hoang Kim Dang have a sharp, very unique perspective (of a cameraman), observing quite meticulously, carefully recording every aspect of the character's life, thanks to that, the people in " Shining the Southern Land and Sky " are portrayed very differently from many other writers. In Hoang Kim Dang's eyes, the characters he mentioned are all famous people in the public, but their lives are extremely simple, not ostentatious, preaching. They live humbly, although they are people who have contributed a lot to the Fatherland, to the people. As literary critic Pham Xuan Nguyen affirmed: at the book launch: " Shining the Southern Land and Sky" by Hoang Kim Dang is a special collection, because the author writes by "shooting", takes pictures by literature and writes pictures also by literature ".
Many people say that he can use golden words to describe a look, a smile, a walk... to leave a portrait for the world. For Hoang Kim Dang, it is more than that. He has used photos and his own unique style of photography to depict 40 portraits of typical people in society.
Reading carefully the book “ Shining the Southern Sky and Land ”, we realize that although he is not a writer, the artist’s use of words is very literary and artistic, no different from a work of art photography that he has created. In the eyes of Hoang Kim Dang, through each page of the book, the photos of the 40 characters that he painstakingly describes are all famous people, their contributions “shining (on) the Southern sky and land”. That is the eldest brother, Great General Vo Nguyen Giap; the poet “ From that time ” To Huu; the best “liver surgeon” in the world named Ton That Tung; the musician, writer, painter Van Cao of “ Tien Quan Ca ” of “ Tien Ve Ha Noi ” of “ Truong Ca Song Lo ”; the writer “ Vang Bong Mot Thoi ”, “ Ha Noi ta danh My gioi ” Nguyen Tuan...
Talking about Hoang Kim Dang's contribution to literature and art, poet Bang Viet shared: "... Hoang Kim Dang prepared for this project 30-40 years ago. He has been working for a long time, he carefully recorded and kept the most valuable documents about both the deceased and his contemporaries, but they are very difficult to access. Hoang Kim Dang's book is a valuable source of documents for everyone to understand, to find, to know about the shining examples of the sages. This is not only his passion but he has done a very responsible job for the country's literature and art career ."
Poet Bang Viet continued: “ The special point of the book is that it was not selected by any committee, but by the prestige and personal responsibility of artist Hoang Kim Dang, with a discerning eye, and a kind heart, loving people, he chose prestigious people, who have influence on the public. This is probably a way we should refer to, so that the literary and press world can introduce more Vietnamese people to friends around the world. ”
Artist Hoang Kim Dang, a teacher, a soldier returning from the fiery Truong Son. And perhaps soldiers returning from the battlefield in general and from the arduous and dangerous Truong Son in particular, always carry their own unique temperament. Writer Phung Van Khai wrote about artist Hoang Kim Dang: “ He is an example of selfless labor. Not noisy. Nor does he expect rewards or anything. The person returning from Truong Son is calm, simple, but steadfast, patient, leisurely but determined, never stopping for a moment like a river flowing to the ocean in all four seasons. The person returning from Truong Son knows how to organize and devotes his whole life to literature and art. His art, the person returning from the legendary Truong Son, is always like a fire that gives us, the young generation, the strength to move forward .”
The author of this article would like to add one more idea: The person who returned from Truong Son is very talented, not only taking photos, writing, and composing poetry, he is also a top-notch art designer and book designer!
Source: https://nhiepanhdoisong.vn/hoang-kim-dang-nguoi-nghe-si-da-tai-15578.html
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