Humanistic beauty in photography

Gold medals in both categories of conceptual and realistic photo were handed out as well as an award being given to a set of photos with the theme of the war against the Covid-19 pandemic and the values of lofty faith, dedication and humanity.

The Vietnam Art Photo Contest – an important event in photography circles is held every two years to gather the composing force, introduce excellent works to the public and evaluate achievements in Vietnam’s photography world. More than four months since its launch, the organising board had received 12,480 works by 1,516 photographers from 63 provinces and cities nationwide. The Art Council selected 238 works from 182 photographers in order to then exhibit and honour 33 excellent works, including three gold medals for the photos “Continuous Development” by Pham Huynh Anh Dung, “Stay at home to avoid epidemic” by Le Tue and the photo series “Mission HVN68 “by Nong Viet Linh; as well as six silver medals, nine bronze medals and 15 consolation prizes for other works. Regarding the quality of the works, the Art Council said that most of the works reflect a true, diverse, deep and vivid perspective on various issues of contemporary life. The entries feature the Vietnamese spirit and culture through the fusion of traditional beauty with modernity, full of aspiration and constantly evolving. This is also the first time that this type of conceptual photo has been displayed in the national art photo exhibition.

Nong Viet Linh (from Hanoi), who won the gold medal in the category of realistic photo with his work named “Mission HVN68”, is a new name in the photography world. He is a reporter from the Zingnews Online magazine. The photo set attracted special attention for its topicality and humanity. HVN68 was the Vietnam Airline’s flight which brought 30 Vietnamese citizens home from the Chinese city of Wuhan in the midst of the Covid-19 epidemic. On board were 15 crewmembers, including three doctors, brave warriors carrying out a special mission. The photographer, who directly recorded the journey diary with enthusiasm and kindness, received a worthy award. Meanwhile, the work named “Stay at home to avoid epidemic” by Le Tue (from Ho Chi Minh City) won gold medal in the category of conceptual photo. The work also received a high consensus of approval from members of the Art Council thanks to its coherent ideas and excellent techniques. The photo features an image of a little girl watching the outside scenery through the doorway, the sparkling lights, the tall building, but that seemingly romantic space is surrounded by the coronavirus. The work reminds viewers of life’s boundaries.

A single photo named “Constantly evolving” triumphed in the category of realistic photos by Huynh Pham Anh Dung (from Ho Chi Minh City),capturing the beauty of new buildings with impressive composition and night exposure. He is also a well-known photographer who has won many awards. Huynh Pham Anh Dung was passionate about photography when he was in the eighth grade, specializing in taking photos of everyday life, and experimenting with new camera angles, technological equipment such as flycams, underwater cameras and modern technical solutions.

Along with the contest, the Vietnam Art Photo Exhibition 2020 has attracted photographers and art lovers. Despite the rainy,windy weather, photographer Phan Dinh (87 years old) from Phu Tho still came to Hanoi to attend the exhibition in order to have the opportunity to exchange professional knowledge with colleagues, and especially admiring the award-winning works of the young photographers. He shared that because of his old age, he cannot compose like when he was young, but he rarely missed a large-scale photo exhibition. Compared with the previous competitions and exhibitions, this year’s works are more diverse in terms of their subject matter, and more carefully invested in quality. Photographer Tran Minh Luong from Can Tho won the consolation prize with the work “Flower Boat in Hoi An”.. The amateur photographer shared that the contest and the exhibition are a great motivation for him to continue to show his way of feeling life through his photography and his attitude towards professionalism.

Besides continuing to affirm the professional prestige and creative achievements of some famous photographers, one of the good signs made evident by the exhibition and awards of the Vietnam Art Photo Contest 2020 is the discovery and honouring of new photographers, bringing hope into the adjacent force of the Vietnamese photography community. The contest shows the transformation of photography on a series of urgent topics, such as medicine, environment, heritage, islands, and industry – agriculture – fishery. These efforts create diverse colours and have received a lot of thought and sympathy from photography lovers.

Source: Nhan Dan Online