HA NOI  (VNS) — As many as 300 photographs taken between 1895 and 1896 by Indochina Governor Armand Rousseau are on display in downtown Ha Noi.

The photographs were taken during the author's mission to Indochina and cover images of daily life in various localities throughout Viet Nam, including Ha Noi, Ha Long, Phan Thiet, Sai Gon and Tay Ninh.

Prof Phan Huy Le, chairman of Viet Nam Historians Association, noted that the collection was a valuable historical source of Viet Nam at the end of the nineteenth century alongside certain art values.

"For example, we have a lot of photographs of Nam Giao worshipping ceremony," he noted, "But in these photographs, we can clearly see how people dressed and conducted the ceremony in 1895-96."

At the opening ceremony held on Tuesday, a family member of the governor handed the collection to the National Library as a gift. The exhibition at the library, 31 Trang Thi Street, will close tomorrow.— VNS