The historian records historical moments through images and photographs in Ba Dinh Square.

“Nguyen Ba Khoan’s photographs will live on through time, because the photographer always stood from a historical perspective. He was truly a historian through images during the turbulent period of the August Revolution and the early days of building the Democratic Republic of Vietnam…” – that perspective of photographer Hoang Kim Dang is truly “very accurate” about photographer Nguyen Ba Khoan – the author of thousands of priceless historical revolutionary photographs.

Among the most valuable photographs of the August Revolution and Independence Day at Ba Dinh Square 78 years ago, it is impossible not to mention those capturing moments that have gone down in history: the people of Hanoi rallying in front of the Grand Theatre Square on August 17, 1945, preparing for the General Uprising to seize power on August 19, 1945; the scene of revolutionary masses flooding into the Governor-General's Palace of Northern Vietnam on August 19, 1945; the rally in the Grand Theatre Square on August 31, 1945; the scene of the people of Hanoi welcoming the liberation army; Comrade Vo Nguyen Giap reviewing the Liberation Army units in Hanoi (August 1946); Ba Dinh Square and the platform for the Declaration of Independence; the scene of the Hanoi Liberation Army - Self-Defense Force attending the Declaration of Independence ceremony on September 2, 1945, at Ba Dinh Square - Hanoi; and the streets of Hanoi after the August Revolution of 1945. with the banner "Vietnam belongs to the Vietnamese people"; images of President Ho Chi Minh and Chinese General He Yingqin in front of the Governor-General's Palace in September 1945 (now the Presidential Palace); President Ho Chi Minh opening the "Golden Week" in front of the Hanoi Grand Theatre; Hanoi children participating in the "Famine Relief Day" parade at the Grand Theatre Square (September 1945); images of the inauguration of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945)...

A historian capturing historical moments in photographs and images at Ba Dinh Square (Figure 1). — The platform for the Declaration of Independence at Ba Dinh Square, September 2, 1945.

And not many people know that the owner of those photographs, who seized the opportunity to capture so many of those once-in-a-lifetime moments of the nation, was just one person: photographer Nguyen Ba Khoan. With the advantage and experience of a long-time photojournalist (at the time of the August Revolution, photographer Nguyen Ba Khoan was a reporter for the newspaper Cuu Quoc, and before that, he was a reporter for many newspapers: Tin Tuc, Thoi The, Thoi Bao), Nguyen Ba Khoan closely followed the events that unfolded consecutively in the last days of August and the beginning of September of that historic year.

Journalist Thọ Cao once shared that, during a meeting with photographer Nguyễn Bá Khoản, he asked the photographer about the photograph of President Ho Chi Minh reading the Declaration of Independence. The photographer recounted: On the afternoon of September 2, 1945, after listening to the instructions from the Editor-in-Chief of the Cứu Quốc newspaper, Comrade Xuân Thủy, he took his old camera to Ba Đình flower garden before the opening ceremony. After the flag-raising ceremony, President Ho Chi Minh solemnly read the Declaration of Independence before a sea of people and a forest of red flags with yellow stars. Mr. Khoản chose his position, adjusted the angles, and selected the lighting – at that time, there were no telephoto lenses – and captured the image of the first President of the country amidst the majestic setting of a momentous historical day for the nation. Calmly and confidently, he took several shots at different speeds. Besides that historic photograph, he also took many other shots of the honor guard protecting the platform, various organizations, etc. That afternoon, the film was developed immediately, and the photos were printed in multiple copies.

A historian capturing historical moments in photographs and images at Ba Dinh Square (Figure 2). — A contingent of Liberation Army soldiers led by Mr. Dam Quang Trung in Hanoi, September 2, 1945.

What is truly admirable about Nguyen Ba Khoan, and a great stroke of luck for Vietnamese photography, is that his valuable collection of photographs is not limited to those of the August Revolution and Independence Day celebrations at Ba Dinh Square. With over 60 years behind the camera, he left behind a truly enormous legacy of documentary photography. Just the number of photographs he and his family donated to the Vietnam Revolutionary Museum (as of 2017) alone amounted to 4,000 original film negatives and 2,700 still photographs. This doesn't even include the 50,000 film negatives his family has preserved and continues to select and donate.

True to what his friends and colleagues often called him – “a historian through images” – his photo archive, like a long film reel, captures many important periods in the country's history, from the “Vietnamese Revolutionary Uprising 1936-1939”, “The August Revolution and President Ho Chi Minh in 1945-1946”; “The Southern Advance Movement, 1945” to the period of “The nationwide resistance in Hanoi, 1946-1947”…

A historian capturing historical moments in photographs and images at Ba Dinh Square (Figure 3). — Liberation Army soldiers attend the Independence Day ceremony at Ba Dinh Square, Hanoi, on September 2, 1945.

“ Historical moments captured in Nguyen Ba Khoan's photographs, from any historical period, are vividly imbued with the essence of life, brimming with the spirit of tenacious fighting. He bravely charged into battle, fighting alongside our troops, carrying the wounded, organizing memorial services for fallen comrades right on the battlefield, recording images of our soldiers using deception tactics to hold back the enemy, and sharing the hardships and readily sacrificing himself alongside his comrades… Nguyen Ba Khoan's photographs will live on forever because the photographer always stood from a historical perspective. He was truly a historian through images during the turbulent period of the August Revolution and the early days of building the Democratic Republic of Vietnam… ” – these are the words photographer Hoang Kim Dang dedicated to his veteran colleague, photographer Nguyen Ba Khoan.

Ha Anh

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