“Nguyen Ba Khoan’s photos will live forever, because the photographer always stands from a historical perspective. He is truly a visual historian during the boiling period of the August Revolution and the early period 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 revolutionary historical photos.
Among the most valuable photos of the August Revolution and Independence Day at Ba Dinh Square 78 years ago, it is impossible not to mention the photos capturing moments that have gone down in history: Hanoi people rallying in front of the Opera House Square on August 17, 1945 to prepare for the General Uprising to seize power on August 19, 1945, the scene of the revolutionary masses pouring into the Palace of the Imperial Commissioner of Tonkin (Bac Bo Palace) on August 19, 1945, the scene of the rally in the Opera House Square on August 31, 1945, the scene of Hanoi people welcoming the liberation army, comrade Vo Nguyen Giap reviewing the Liberation Army unit in Hanoi (August 1946), Ba Dinh Square and the Independence Declaration stage, the scene of the Hanoi Liberation Army - Self-Defense Force attending the Independence Declaration ceremony on September 2, 1945 at Ba Dinh Square - Hanoi, the street scene of Hanoi after the August Revolution 1945 with the banner “Vietnam of the Vietnamese”; Images of President Ho Chi Minh and Chinese General Ha Ung Kham in front of the Governor-General’s Palace in September 1945 (now the Presidential Palace), the scene of President Ho Chi Minh opening the “Golden Week” in front of the Hanoi Opera House, the scene of Hanoi’s children participating in the “Famine Relief Day” parade at the Opera House Square (September 1945), the image of the introduction of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945)…
The Declaration of Independence stage at Ba Dinh Square, September 2, 1945.
And not many people know that the owner of those photos, capturing so many of those once-in-a-lifetime moments of the nation, is just one person: photographer Nguyen Ba Khoan. With the advantage and experience of a long-time photojournalist (when the August Revolution broke out, 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 happened consecutively in the historic days of late August and early September at that time.
Journalist Tho Cao once shared that, in a meeting with photographer Nguyen Ba Khoan, he asked the photographer about the photo of President Ho Chi Minh reading the Declaration of Independence. The photographer said: On the afternoon of September 2, 1945, after listening to the instructions of the Editor-in-Chief of the National Salvation Newspaper, comrade Xuan Thuy, he took his old camera to Ba Dinh Square before the opening ceremony. After the flag-raising ceremony, President Ho Chi Minh solemnly read the Declaration of Independence in front of a sea of people and a forest of red flags with yellow stars. Khoan chose a place to stand, turned the angles, chose the light - at that time there were no telephoto lenses and captured the image of the first President in the majestic scene of a great historical day of the nation. Calm and confident, he took several shots at different speeds. In addition to that historical photo, he also took many other shots such as the honor guard protecting the stage, the organizations... That afternoon, the film was developed immediately, and the photo was printed into many copies.
The Liberation Army soldiers led by Mr. Dam Quang Trung in Hanoi, September 2, 1945.
What is truly admirable about Nguyen Ba Khoan and also a great fortune for Vietnamese photography is that his treasure trove of precious photographs is not only the photographs of the August Revolution and Independence Day at Ba Dinh Square. With more than 60 years of holding a camera, he left behind a truly massive legacy of documentary photography. The number of photos he and his family donated to the Vietnam Revolutionary Museum alone (as of 2017) is 4,000 original films and 2,700 photos. That is not to mention the 50,000 films his family has kept and has been and is continuing to select and donate.
True to what his friends and colleagues often call him - "a historian with images", his photo collection is like a long film roll about many important stages in the country's history, from "The High Tide of the Vietnamese Revolution 1936 - 1939", "The August Revolution and Uncle Ho in 1945 - 1946"; "The Southern Movement, 1945" to the period of "The National Resistance War in the Capital Hanoi, 1946 - 1947"...
Liberation Army attends Independence Day ceremony at Ba Dinh Square, Hanoi on September 2, 1945.
“ The historical moments clearly shown in Nguyen Ba Khoan's photos at any historical period are always full of life, full of the spirit of a resilient fight, because he also bravely charged into the battlefield, fought close to our troops, carried the wounded, organized memorial services for his comrades right at the front, recorded images of our troops using diversionary tactics to pin down the enemy, and he also shared hardships and was ready to sacrifice with his comrades... Nguyen Ba Khoan's photos will live forever with time, because the photographer always stood from a historical perspective. He was truly a visual historian during the boiling period of the August Revolution and the early period of building the Democratic Republic of Vietnam... ” - those are the lines that photographer Hoang Kim Dang dedicated to his veteran colleague - photographer Nguyen Ba Khoan.
Ha Anh
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