Opening the article, author Michael Hanna reviews the achievements of photographer Viet Van. He wrote: Tran Viet Van is a conceptual photographer and filmmaker, who has received more than 130 international photography awards, including Px3 (France), IPA, Master Cup (USA), TIFA (Japan), ND Awards, Travel Photographer of the Year, Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year and Pollux Awards (UK). He is the author of 9 books, including "Dharma and Life" (sponsored by the European Union). His works have appeared in international publications such as Photo (France), Silvershotz (Australia), No Name Collective (UK), Dodho (Spain), and International Portrait Photographer of the Year (Australia)...
In recent creations, Tran Viet Van focuses on surveying contemporary visual culture from the perspective of control, completion and visibility. These issues are expressed through digital distortion in Photoshop, typically the "Process" series of photos, where he builds a script consisting of combined and transformed bodies, "downloaded" before viewers as if they are digital processes.
Other works in many series, such as "Deferred" (Delayed), show physical and interior elements in layers of blur, deformation and pixelation (Pixelation), with perspective reflected to create clear geometric symmetry, or act as a recorded observation of limited space.
From spaces like offices or hospital-like functional areas, to urban streets with spontaneous advertising leaflets and weathered wall surfaces, along with disintegrated shapes with moving pixels in composition, Tran Viet Van's photography raises questions about the purpose and role of contemporary aesthetics.
Most of his works can be seen as non-commercial. Tran Viet Van inspires viewers to consider deviations and distortions, as if a technical malfunction appeared right in front of their eyes, or as if seemingly ordinary details could be viewed from an artistic perspective. He studies textures and perspectives to create reflective spaces where the process of image transmission seems to be interrupted. Like a thunderstorm, the technical intervention factor in the work makes viewers think about imperfection in life and in everyday visual experiences.
These photos are both conceptual and suggestive, encouraging viewers to consider how digital transformations interact with material life. On a broader level, he blurred the boundary between digital perception and real-life experiences.
Process" describes a dramatic scene: Many bodies connected to each other, a character seems to be making a scream as the body "loads" in front of viewers in a wave of pixel deformation. Black and white images and digital interference make the series of photos evoke memories of recordings from the closed-loop surveillance system (CCTV), creating a cold and objective effect.
Practical and consistent in its approach, Tran Viet Van's photography encourages viewers to question contemporary aesthetics and how we approach digital space. The vision he builds shows a world imagined through image transformation processes. Through this, artists discover how photography can shape our perception in different contexts, while helping viewers reflect on the ways of thinking and seeing that are affecting modern life.
Michael Hanna (Michael Athanasius Hanna) is an international visual artist, photographer, filmmaker, writer and publisher. He works in Jersey Shore, USA, and has been Editor-in-Chief & Director at Point Pleasant Publishing since 2014 - an organization specializing in compiling, publishing critical articles and introducing contemporary art in the form of catalogs and specialized publications.
He has been introduced and published in prestigious art publications such as Saatchi Art, The London Group and introduced in major newspapers such as The New York Times and Hartford Courant.
He has also written many in-depth criticisms, with a writing style highly appreciated by the art community for its meticulousness, objectivity and respect for the creative work of artists.
