Vu Anh Tuan and the black and white symphony

Behind the "equal" square frames

In the exhibition space at 45 Trang Tien (Hanoi) opening on April 15, 2026, viewers encounter a strange unity: All are black and white portraits and are all squared 45x45cm.

Artist Vu Anh Tuan confided that it was a deliberate choice to create absolute equality. There, portraits of legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap and Lieutenant General, former National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Quoc Thuoc are placed next to the smiles of self-defense girls, soldiers, monks or ordinary workers from three regions of the country.

There is no distinction between fame or silence, all are respected equally by the author through the lens of photography. Why portrait is the theme? Because for professionals, portrait is a difficult topic, he wants to create an impression, a difference for the exhibition.

Explaining the choice of black and white tones, Vu Anh Tuan said that it is a challenge because of its abstraction. "Black and white portraits are always deeper than color portraits". Many works that are originally color photos have been meticulously converted into black and white to find harmony, concision, helping viewers touch the emotions of the characters directly instead of being dominated by bright colors.

This portrait photo set, he intended to exhibit nearly 2 years ago but postponed it for many reasons, but in luck, thanks to the delay of time, he added many good photos such as A80 event photos...

As well as his steadfast personality and always seeking harmony, the 61 photos on display are a harmonious combination of figures of all ages, different social components, in all three regions of the country. That harmony is also reflected in topics of political, cultural and social current affairs...

Talking" photos from a reporter's notebook

As a veteran worker for Nhan Dan Newspaper, Vu Anh Tuan maintains the habit of taking detailed notes. Therefore, each photo at the exhibition is not only a visual moment but also a story with its own context, time and emotions, although very concise.

Viewers will be moved by the work "Tung canh" (1997) which won the FIAP Silver Medal in Germany. In 1997, when entering the dance school, taking pictures of students practicing dance to prepare for the graduation ceremony, suddenly, he observed and discovered a female student performing a very difficult movement.

Very quickly, he asked the girl to remake it to take a photo. When taking the photo to give to the character, he blurted out jokingly "this photo will become famous" and indeed afterwards the photo won the FIAP Silver Medal at a prestigious photo contest in Germany.

That is also 1 of 100 typical photos of many Vietnamese photographers appearing in the exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of Vietnamese photography named "Vietnamese Photographic Masterpieces". Or like the photo "Young Lady", he confided, "First time meeting a female student named Diep from Viet Duc High School - Hanoi. The moment she raised her hand to gently lift her hair made me come up with the idea of taking pictures of her differently from ordinary portrait photos.

With beautiful, smooth hands pressing on her face, eyes looking straight ahead, with a white background behind, the photo has a gentle tone, looking at her like a flower bud about to bloom, showing off its beauty at its most beautiful age. The interesting thing is that the most effective "assistant" to the author is none other than his gentle wife with a white backdrop.

After that, Vu Anh Tuan took a photo like that with color film, but the effect was not as good. It was really fun and memorable that the photo "Young Lady" was chosen to hang at the 17th National Art Photo Exhibition at Ngo Quyen Exhibition House, on the opening day, the character came to see. "Young Lady" was selected by the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists as one of the 10 black and white photos of Vietnam to participate in the 2-year/time competition organized by FIAP (International Federation of Photographic Artists) in the Netherlands in 1992. The set of 10 Vietnamese photos won the Silver Medal in that year's team.

One noteworthy thing is the title - headlines for simple photos like the breath of life itself, but containing the warmth of a traveler who has been with the camera for more than 40 years, such as "Se se lanh", "Mời thăm bản em", "Hôm nay vui đáo để"...

The philosophy of "3 Ds" and the beautiful ending of sharing

Looking back at the journey of more than 4 decades, photographer Vu Anh Tuan concluded that his photography language always aims at "3 Ds": True - Beautiful - Unique. In which, it is indeed the truthfulness of information, of the time. Beauty is aesthetic emotion for viewers. Unique are unique moments, difficult to repeat in life, often unique.

This exhibition also carries a noble humanistic meaning. After the exhibition ends, all 61 portraits will be donated by the author to the Vietnam Women's Museum. This is how he preserves memories not only for himself but for the whole community.

Those People We Meet" is not arranged in chronological order, it is like a stream of memories rushing back suddenly. For Vu Anh Tuan, his greatest happiness is to go, meet, experience and record the values of life through the lens of an artist. From this second exhibition, viewers are waiting again for a new photography project by Vu Anh Tuan.