The photo book Moments of Time by the old artist Van Quang Duc, from Kinh Mon (Hai Duong) is one of four works that won the Outstanding Photography Award for critical theory and photo books.
The Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists has announced 26 works winning the Excellent Photography Award and 4 works winning the 2024 Photography Award for Critical Theory and Photo Books.
This is the highest award of the year of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists.
The photo book "Moments of Time" by author Van Quang Duc (Hai Duong) is the only work to win a gold medal at the 2024 Outstanding Photography Award for critical theory and photo books.
Artist Van Quang Duc was born in 1915 in Vinh Tru town (Ly Nhan, Ha Nam), currently living in An Luu town (Kinh Mon). Photographer Van Quang Duc is one of the 71 founding members of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists; a member of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP); one of the first members to establish and have many works contributed to the Hai Hung Literature and Arts Magazine (during the period when Hai Duong and Hung Yen provinces merged).
Artist Van Quang Duc has many works that have won international and domestic awards such as: "Duoc nang" (silver medal of the German Democratic Republic Award 1966); "Hat da mua sau", "Chieu tren song Kinh Thay" (Romania exhibition); "Duong ve cua lua" (Hungary exhibition), "Hang Doc Tit" (second prize of the 4th National Art Photography Exhibition), "Duong plow dam dang" (C prize of the National Committee of the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations), "Dan stork ve to to am" (Con Son Literature and Arts Award 1990)...
Being serious in his profession, in his work and in his life is the motto of the old artist Van Quang Duc. Therefore, he only stopped composing more than two years ago after a fall and his health declined.
Artist Van Quang Duc is very passionate about Uncle Ho's teaching: "The camera is a sharp weapon of class struggle". Therefore, throughout his life holding the camera, he has always been energetic and proactive like a soldier on the labor and production front, actively taking creative and documentary photos.
“My experience after many years of working in this profession is that when wanting to go somewhere or take a photo, the photographer must have a program and plan in advance. You must clearly define what you intend to take in order to prepare thoroughly. When taking photos with a group, you must have your own intentions and creative ideas and should not follow the pattern of others,” Mr. Duc said in an interview with a reporter from Hai Duong Newspaper.
Mr. Duc also shared that a photographer must combine many factors. They must be observant to choose the right shooting angles, be able to capture the moment, and at the same time have the patience to "capture" the right event, emotion, light... because there are images that only appear for a few seconds and cannot be retrieved. Therefore, the ability to be sensitive and know how to choose the moment will decide to create the soul of an excellent photo. Besides, naming the photos is also very important so that viewers can understand part of the idea that the photographer wants to convey.
During the resistance wars against France and the US, photographer Van Quang Duc always stayed close to his hometown, closely followed events and battlefields and took valuable photos of the war such as: The enemy dropped B52 bombs on Lai Vu bridge; The Hanoi - Hai Phong train was hit by American bombs; Hiep An guerrillas captured American pilots, the plane crashed on the land of An Phu commune; Images of 3 battalions marching to Kiep Bac...
Artist Van Quang Duc has also been successful with many artistic photographic works reflecting the life and farming work of the hard-working and labor-loving Kinh Mon people, such as: images of bamboo boats carrying rice during the harvest season, young men breaking rocks to open roads, brown sails in the morning mist on Kinh Thay River... In particular, the photo series of 102 photos recording the construction process of Hoang Thach Cement Factory has realistically reflected the difficulties and hardships on the path to building the homeland and the country.
Artist Van Quang Duc's love for photography and his homeland has been passed on to his sons. Three of his four sons were war photographers. The second son heroically sacrificed his life in the war against America, and the eldest son has now retired. The third son, photographer Van Ca Quyet (73 years old), is still attached to his career as a photographer. He has many works of art photography that have won high awards in the province, the Red River Delta region, and nationwide.
In addition, in the category of Outstanding Photography Awards, there were 26 best award-winning photo works, including: 2 gold medals, 5 silver medals, and 19 bronze medals. The Outstanding Photography Awards aim to find photographic works, works of photography criticism theory, and photo books with good artistic quality and content. From there, the best works are selected to award gold, silver, and bronze medals of the year.
Here are this year's winning entries:
Gold Medal
Silver Medal
Bronze