“My photographs tell stories about the people, the traditions and finally the changes of this country”, Minh says. “They have of course a certain aesthetics and beauty. But look closely and you will understand what they really mean.” With his unyielding smile and loud laughs echoing in his shop, Minh has become quite a character in the Ho Chi Minh City photo scene for the last decade. He has traveled all across Vietnam and he has been around the world many times. He shows a recent photo of the Cai Rang floating market in the Mekong delta: “the soft light indicates that it is early morning. As you know, there, people sell fruits, food, vegetables, everything on their boats. I like the colorful and balanced composition. But look closely at the photo. I chose the angle very carefully. On the first ground, you can see sweet fruits like coconuts and mangos. In the background, you can see the inside of a boat, with a hammock, and some cooking ustensils. It is not poverty, it is enough for a living.” He pauses and get a closer look. “There is a proverb that goes in Vietnam about the Mekong delta way of life. It says “ngot ngao, du xay”. It means that people from the Mekong speak sweet words and possess only what is necessary. My photo illustrates this saying. In the South, life is easy and layback, so I also got the hammock on my picture… maybe by chance!”
Minh learned his job years ago on the fly. “I started working at the Universal Studios here in Saigon, in 1972. I could watch many movies at the time. I was taking care of the magnetic rolls. Then after I went back to my hometown in Nha Trang to work in the photo lab of the Oceanographic museum”. Minh came back to Ho Chi Minh City in 1982, but he could open his shop only in 1995. “I always took pictures all this time”, he recalls. “I always used my money to buy new cameras, films or additional lenses. When I opened the Pro Lab in 1995, things were a little easier. We could import good equipment and could develop films in better conditions.” At the back of his shop is a stockpile of camera boxes. “I still use them when I take photos for my pleasure. I only use slide films. They are great for large prints. Of course for clients, I shoot with a digital camera. Times are changing but old things can sometimes survive”.
When asked if his words could apply to the changing times in Vietnam and in Ho Chi Minh City in particular, he replies : “For me these changes created two emerging trends: a consumer society and an industrialised culture. The economic development gives new subjects.” Minh has been well known for his landscape, city skylights and countryside pictures. “The hidden charm of Vietnam lies in the rural culture and traditions, whether it lies in the terrace ricefields of Sapa, in the salt fields of Phan Rang, or in the schrimps farms in Phan Thiet. The people there have so much to say. Their ancestral work summerizes the thousand year-old Vietnamese culture. I have taken countless pictures of it but I am never bored with this subject.” He then goes through the files on his laptop and opens a panoramic picture of an industrial zone.
“The ancestral agricultural traditions are fading away slowly, giving place to a new industrial culture. It generates a new lifestyle in these suburban dormitory and factory areas. I went to some industrial zones around town, trying to capture this. Workers there are young, from 18 to 25 year-old in average. They come from all provinces, thus creating a mosaic of people, quite unique in a way. But there is nothing to do there after a hard working day. Boredom, alcohol problems will appear I guess. The society has to take care of them in terms of infrastructure, entertainment and education”.
The photos exposed in his gallery located on 2 Nguyen Hue street, district1, also express his concerns about the growing economic gap between the rich and the poor generated by this consumer society. He witnesses it all the time when he goes shooting in remote areas. “I would like to publish a photo album”, Minh says. With a sponsor to commercialise it, we could use the money to build a school in a poor rural area. What comes from culture must go back to culture and education”, he concludes.
