Vietnam’s photography earns rising position globally

Vietnamese photographer, Vu Trung Huan captured the beauty of Long Coc tea hills in northern Vietnam and was honored as the first runner up in the Royal Meteorological Society's Weather Photographer of the Year 2020.

Vu Manh Cuong, another photographer, was awarded gold in the fourth Shadow International Contest in India. The photo, featuring the beauty of terraced fields, claimed the leading prize in the competition’s tourism category.

A photo of a farmer surrounded by drying fish by Khanh Phan won silver in the Travel/Tourism category at the Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) 2020.

Tran Phong, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists’ Art Council noted, "Vietnamese photographers have won prestigious awards at many contests, both at home and abroad. They have shown excellent skills, which have earned respect from their foreign peers. Works of Vietnamese photographers have also been selected in the final rounds of many established international competitions."

Vietnam’s unspoiled beauty and rich and diverse culture deeply imbued with Asian values are endless sources of inspiration for Vietnamese photographers.

Vietnamese lensmen are also quick to adapt to modern photographic technologies, which has helped them create outstanding works, according to Thanh Mien, a member of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists.

"Young photographers are very passionate and good at the latest photographic technologies. They travel a lot from north to south taking great pictures of Vietnam’s beautiful landscapes like Mu Cang Chai. They don't mind travelling to remote areas, staying up late or waking up super early to catch the beautiful moments of the local nature, landscapes, and people and promote such unique features of Vietnam worldwide via their photos," said Mien. 

Together with the development of digital technologies, Vietnamese photographers are urged to further invest and upgrade their skills to produce pictures of greater quality while looking for new topics for their works.  

"Photographers are required to thoroughly study their topics and carefully select images of Vietnam with unique local features. This is not an easy task, as it requires a lot of efforts," said Hoang Dieu, Head of Competition Division of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists.

Choosing new and unique topics will give Vietnamese photographers an advantage to win and make their own impressions at international competitions, according to Vu Anh Tuan, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists’ Art Council.

"Vietnamese photographers need to do deeper research on their selected topics or gain a better understanding on all aspects of life to create more outstanding works. Global prestigious photographic works all focus on very sharp and clear topics," said Tuan.  

Vietnam’s photography is consolidating its foothold with more and more globally recognized works, contributing to promoting the country’s images to the world.