Photography can reflect the splendor or the harshness of everyday life.

Fish stall at Thi Nghe market in September 2024 - Photo: THANH TUNG

On the evening of March 22, at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, there was a talk show "The art of storytelling through the lens" with 5 generations of photographers Nguyen Xuan Khanh, Duong Minh Long, Vu Hai Son, Bill Nguyen, Thanh Tung.

There are photos that become more valuable the longer they are kept.

At the exchange, photographers all emphasized the importance of documentary photos. According to photographer Nguyen Xuan Khanh, the value of documentary photos lies in time, the longer the time, the more valuable the photo.

He gave an example of capturing images of Tau Hu Canal: "In the past, we took our cameras to take pictures of each house next to the canal, the color of the canal water, and the current condition.

Bui Vien in June 2024 - Photo: THANH TUNG

Up to now, after about 30, 40 years, looking back, there are so many changes, not only houses and roads built around the canal.

If we go to the same old location and take another photo, we will have in hand 2 photos showing 2 different times of the same object.

From this, we can see how a person, a place has developed after all these years".

Looking throughout the history of world photography, Mr. Xuan Khanh said there are famous photography projects that record the current state of society and changes in landscapes. And from there, they provide valuable sources of photographic material to help with research, urban planning or change and development of a certain area in society.

For example, in the US, there is the FSA (Farm Security Administration) project that gathered famous photographers to create a massive photographic record of American life from 1935 to 1944 to help the government have more documents and build appropriate policies to combat rural poverty during that period.

According to photographer Duong Minh Long, photographers should still pursue capturing ordinary, simple aspects of Saigon life such as: going to the market, lining up to buy things on the street or people's daily activities... Because over time they will become valuable sources of information.

Photographer Nguyen Xuan Khanh talks about his success in documentary photography in Germany - Video: HO LAM

Great subjects for photography

Photographer Duong Minh Long also commented that Ho Chi Minh City is a fertile land for photography projects, where photographers will have many "interesting" topics.

As in the photo book series Saigon 365 by father and son Thanh Tung and Bill Nguyen, consisting of 5 books.

Saigon street with moments on Saigon streets taken continuously for 365 days, recording the beauty of the streets and architecture from many angles and at many times of the day.

Saigon market takes pictures of the market in Saigon, where there is the style of people and land of Saigon, there is the diversity of traditional markets, night markets, regional specialty markets...

Then Saigon food recorded the culinary specialties of Saigon, where many regions are subtly blended, through which we can see the culture and spirit of the generous Southern land.

From left to right: photographer Vu Hai Son, Thanh Tung, Nguyen Xuan Khanh, Bill Nguyen, Duong Minh Long - Photo: HO LAM

Or Saigon night is a Saigon that never sleeps. Saigon at night has a contrast between the bustling pace of life and the quiet moments, between the modern and the old, between the rich and the poor, between the splendid luxury and the simple, even harsh corners of life.

Finally, Saigon 18 by young photographer Nguyen Huynh Bach (Bill Nguyen) born in 2007 captures a youthful perspective of a dynamic Saigon.

Sharing at the event, Bill Nguyen said that the biggest difficulty and challenge when he and his father made a photo book about this city was selecting content, finding suitable topics, as well as financial and time constraints.

Mr. Thanh Tung said that his passion for photography must also be balanced with family life, study, and work. There were days when he and his father went out to take photos and encouraged each other to try to pursue and complete this Saigon 365 photography project.

Me Linh Construction Site in May 2024

The Saigon 365 book series consists of five books published by the Writers Association Publishing House - Photo: TTD

Saigon 365 Exhibition takes place at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street from March 22 to March 28.

The exhibition displays 50 streetlife photos of Saigon, including 18 photos by author Nguyen Huynh Bach and 32 photos by author Nguyen Thanh Tung.

The photo series was post-processed by the two authors and printed according to fine art standards on canvas. The exhibition display was also designed and constructed with a special hanging rack, displaying the images according to the author's wishes.

Read more Back to Topics

LAKE LAM