HA NOI — Photographer Tran Viet Van has won an Honourable Mention Award at the Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3) for his series The Life, in the category of Fine Arts for professional photographers.
Van, a veteran photographer, says he never tires of his profession.
"The instability of life has always obsessed me. When I wake up and watch the news on TV or read a newspaper, I feel inspired," he says.
His winning series of five black-and-white and colour photos depict different aspects of life. One photo shows a young man in a small bathroom. Another is of dead pigs lying on the ground bathed in yellow light, as pedestrians walk by. Another, is of a lieutenant-general, who seems to be remembering his fighting days, while in another an old woman is praying, perhaps for the welfare of her family.
"For me, this life is unguessable. It is as if we're blown by the wind to somewhere that we can't know."
The contest attracted both professional and amateur photographers from 85 countries and territories.
This is the sixth international award Van has won this year.
French media descends upon Hue
THUA THIEN-HUE — A gaggle of French print and electronic-media journalists have been in the central city of Hue since the beginning of this month to report on culture and tourism in the heritage city.
They are from leading newspapers like Le Monde and L'Express and channels like France Television, TV Matin, and TV Escale.
With the help of Trinh Bach, a researcher of Hue culture, they have been exploring elements of the city's culture, including popular and royal architecture, and interviewing craftspeople and people who lived when the last feudal dynasty was still ruling in the 1940's.
Bach himself featured in a show on his work to restore traditional Vietnamese cultural values by the tourism channel TV Escale.
Bach is renowned for reviving lost crafts like palace-style hand embroidery, china-making, and wood and silver carving. He has also successfully restored the elaborate costumes worn by Nguyen dynasty kings and queens.
The TV shows on Hue will be broadcast in September. — VNS