The photo book entitled ‘Nhin tu canh bay – Non nuoc Viet’ (Seeing from flying wing – Vietnamese country) of Ngo Minh Dao, which won the best prize of the Association for Photographic Artists 2003, is a collection of nearly 100 photos taken when he was in airplanes for 17 years.
His photos, have pure art value showing spectacular angles of view of various regions for the first time to be introduced in a series in Vietnam. They are also an archive of social values.
For example, his photo ‘Nghi Son - Thanh Hoa Fishing Village’ helps keep the image of a fishing village which has now nearly disappeared.
Dien Bien Phu.
His photo ‘Phu Ninh Dam – Quang Nam’ reminds people of a deadly event in 1999 when the dam was thought to be broken (this photo won a prize in a photo competition in centre Vietnam in 2000).
Born in Quynh Luu, Nghe An province, Ngo Minh Dao grew up in Vinh. He was a photo reporter of the Vietnam News Agency from1959 and had been in many battlefields. Until he was retired in 1998, he accompanied many Party and State leaders to many different places for approximately 20 years. That helped him have his "air photos."
Ngo Minh Dao took his first photo in 1982. During his working trip from Hanoi to Phnom Penh, journalist and photographer Minh Dao was surprised with the spectacular beauty of Vam Co Dong river when he saw it from the air. After many times of without success as the photos were bleached due to too much bright light, finally, the successful photo is seen in the cover of the book. This black and white photo featuring the river as a quiet snake won the first prize at the three Indochinese countries’ photo competition.
Photography is an art of the moment. This is clearly seen when the photographer has to compete with a speed of several hundreds of kilometres of the airplane.
Taking photos from the airplanes, it needs not only the attention but also good health of the photographer. How to stick one's head out of the airplane’s window which is flying with a speed of several hundreds of kilometres while keeping the camera is also an issue.
He wanted to have photos shot from the air since early 1970s after he saw wonderful photos taken from the air of German and France. After the first success with the photo on Vam Co Dong river, he had more photos on the landscapes of the Mekong River delta and also photos on the development of the country.
Source: VAB
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment