Tran Viet Vans set of photos entitledWar Commander at Time of Peace won a gold medal and a bronze medal at the Prix de la Photographie, Paris 2014

HA NOI (VNS) — Vietnamese photographer Tran Viet Van has won a gold medal at the Prix de la Photographie, Paris (Px3) 2014 for a series of five photos featuring war soldiers.

A press release announced the names of the winners this morning.

Besides the gold medal in the Portraiture – Other – P category, Vans set of photos entitledWar Commander at Time of Peacealso received a bronze medal in the Press – Other category. Both categories are meant for professional photographers.

This is the sixth consecutive year that Van has been honoured at the Px3 photography competition, one of the most important events in Europe and created by the founders of International Photography Awards in 2008.

Born in 1971, Van graduated with a BA degree in culture from the Ha Noi Cultural University in 1992. Hecurrently works for the Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper. He has held nine solo exhibitions and many group exhibitions both at home and abroad, and published four books.

"The commanders used to say, remember and think about the past war. The past is glorious, as is the sacrifice and the pain... But the generals are remembered as heroes. For now, they live quiet, sombre lives as ordinary people and will gradually fade into oblivion," Van said, while speaking about his winning works.

The works recently won an Honourable Mention at the annual photo awards in the Czech Republic and were exhibited in Prague.

Px3 2014 also granted Mohammad Ali Berno of Iran the Photographer of the Year Award for his entryPhotojournalism, and Giorgio Bianchi of Italy the Best New Talent Award for his seriesBattle in Kiev. — VNS