Pham Tuan Ngoc brings black and white photography from the darkroom to the museum

As promised during the press conference at his studio, visual artist Pham Tuan Ngoc presented 25 black and white photos (selected from more than 1,000 entries) within the framework of Noirfotocontest2023 - an annual photography contest for the photography community in Vietnam - in an exhibition called Sparkles with the creative concept "It's what you do in the dark that puts you in the light".

From the darkroom to the museum

The exhibition lasts from April 13 to April 28. According to Pham Tuan Ngoc, the opening ceremony is just a "teaser" for visitors. The beauty of black and white photos will continue to be shared through subsequent talks and when visitors return to Quang San Museum.

Pham Tuan Ngoc at the Sparkles exhibition

The opening ceremony of the exhibition attracted a large audience.

Exhibition visitors vote for their favorite work using red stickers provided by the organizers.

The exhibition opening attracted a large number of visitors, even so crowded that it made it difficult to enjoy the works... because viewers had to jostle each other, sometimes having to wait for the previous person to finish viewing and voting before they could see the works.

Black and white photography is so unique in its creativity that it is also called "the second shot in the darkroom". Pham Tuan Ngoc invested in a "fancy" studio to indulge in black and white photography, but he did not stop at just creating for himself but also brought those creations to the public.

In Vietnam today, to the point of mastery and professionalism, perhaps only Pham Tuan Ngoc is playing with black and white photography. Realizing that the field of artistic photography needs to be introduced to the public more seriously, Quang San Museum co-organized the Sparkles exhibition to bring Pham Tuan Ngoc's black and white photos from the darkroom to a larger space - the museum. Because here, the audience can come and go whenever they want. They can view the works comfortably, in a large space, not in a "secret place" - the darkroom where the photos are projected.

Sparkles - the name of the exhibition - means the "electric" creative moment that suddenly appears in the artist's mind, forcing the artist to perform the most sublime, instinctive creative act. This inspiration is completely suitable for a visual artist like Pham Tuan Ngoc, who sometimes "locks himself" in a dark room for more than ten hours a day to find "electric" moments when creating black and white photos.

Sparkles is an opportunity for viewers to get closer to the "electric" moments in the creations of Pham Tuan Ngoc and his colleagues, none other than black and white photos.

The work Reflection by Le Huu Nghia received many votes from the audience.

Another black and white work that also received the love of the audience was The Scent of Fire by Nguyen Ngoc Diem Quynh.

Regarding the 25 black and white photos, these works were directly illuminated by Pham Tuan Ngoc and his colleagues in his darkroom, Noirfoto Darkroom (which can be considered the most professional darkroom in Vietnam up to now) with the strictest requirements and standards to have a black and white photo of the best quality.

Respect art so that art can live longer in the enjoyment

Pham Tuan Ngoc's professional perspective is quite perfectionist. To select the 25 best works and display them at the Sparkles exhibition, he and his colleagues exposed the photos according to a strict 7-step standard - equivalent to museum standards. This 7-step exposure process was learned, pondered and summarized by Pham Tuan Ngoc during his time studying abroad as well as his career.

To bring black and white photography closer to the public, visual artist Pham Tuan Ngoc has received support from all parties, so that art is not limited to creativity but is linked to community enjoyment.

Noirfotocontest, which can be considered as the predestined event that led to this exhibition, has come a long way, 5 years, in shaping a professional playground for talented photography practitioners of all ages and nationalities to have the opportunity to share stories, ideas, emotions as well as their own perspectives through black and white film photos.

Sparkles Exhibition Space

Another angle of the Sparkles exhibition space

Mr. Nguyen Thieu Kien, a member of the Noirfotocontest2023 advisory board, shared: "It is time for the public to know about photography as an art form, which Noirfoto and its founder, Mr. Pham Tuan Ngoc, have been persistently pursuing for many years. I realize that the world has given proper recognition to art photography. However, in Vietnam, it is probably not enough. To me, photography is a contemporary art form that needs to receive worthy encouragement and support not only from QS Art Space or Quang San Art Museum, but also from many other parties. It must be done, and it must be done consistently so that artists are inspired to create. In addition, I expect the public to have a serious attitude when coming to this exhibition. Do not consider the exhibition as a mere entertainment activity. We come to the exhibition to enjoy the artistry, to properly and sufficiently appreciate the labor of the authors behind the black and white photos, of Noirfoto in organizing this competition and enhancing the works through darkroom exposure, and of all parties involved in organizing the exhibition”.

Pham Tuan Ngoc projects photos in the darkroom

Although Noirfotocontest is a non-commercial and non-profit community activity, Pham Tuan Ngoc has been persistent and persistent in doing so for over 5 years, and this exhibition has many purposes. That is, through Sparkles , black and white photos exposed in the darkroom "go through their journey", meaning they can reach more audiences, instead of just "living" a short life cycle in cyberspace. And next, also through Sparkles , this will be the activity that opens up the next direction for Pham Tuan Ngoc - he has successfully tested the exposure of darkroom photos from digital photos, marking the development of manual photography in the future.

Connect will be the theme of the Noirfotocontest2024 contest, continuing the journey that Pham Tuan Ngoc has been on. Noirfotocontest2024 is expected to launch next June.

After the opening day of the exhibition, which was just an "appetizer", Sparkles also had 2 art talks about black and white photography, both with professional guests such as:

- April 21: 2 talks including Photography as Art - The post-modernism approach , with speaker Dr. Luong Ngoc Tram - Lecturer at Fulbright University, majoring in Media and Art Studies); Miracle in the darkroom - The story of a photo projection expert with speaker Pham Tuan Ngoc.

- April 28: Sharing session of photographer Duong Minh Long Sharing about 25 works selected for the exhibition round of Noirfotocontest2023 ; closing of the exhibition.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/trien-lam-sparkles-pham-tuan-ngoc-dua-nhiep-anh-den-trang-tu-phong-toi-den-bao-tang-185240413232804888.htm