Photographer Réhahn brings Vietnamese beauty to the French public

According to a VNA correspondent in France, on April 10, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic partnership between Vietnam and France, the Honfleur City Hall in the Normandy region of France, in collaboration with photographer Réhahn Croquevielle, organized a photo exhibition about the impressive beauty of Vietnam.

Mayor of Honfleur City, Mr. Michel Lamarre; Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang; MP Christophe Blanchet, Vice President of the France-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Group, along with many representatives of the government and people of this city attended the opening ceremony. Smiles, good friends, the beauty of workers and the contrasts of life are shown through the lens but in the style of Impressionism... 44 portraits and landscapes are displayed for the first time at the Park of Celebrities, along the coastal road of Honfleur City, which attracts many locals and tourists . The photo exhibition about the country and people of Vietnam through the lens of photographer Réhahn, lasting until the end of 2023, is a cultural event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and 10 years of the establishment of the strategic partnership between Vietnam and France. Sharing with VNA reporters, photographer Réhahn said that although he is a citizen of Honfleur city, he has been attached to Vietnam for the past 12 years. Therefore, if Honfleur is where he grew up, Hoi An is where his career shines. With all his love for both Vietnam and France, he decided to choose 44 photos to display in his hometown on this occasion. In the 44 photos above, besides the portraits and idyllic landscapes in Vietnam that have made Réhahn's name, the author introduces to visitors for the first time his new famous series of photos in the collection "Memories of Impressionism". The works were created using a new method to merge the fields of painting and fine art photography, creating the Impressionist school of photography - originating in Honfleur, 150 years ago, that is, taking photos through contrasting images to create beautiful, magical photos like paintings of this school. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mayor Lamarre highly appreciated the initiative to organize an event to celebrate the friendship between Vietnam and France. He commented that Réhahn's beautiful photos were displayed outdoors, where the sea, sky and light harmonized, reminding him of his predecessors, famous painters such as Claude Monnet and Eugène Boudin, who were inspired by the special light of this place to create the Impressionist school. He emphasized that hundreds of artists have come and will come to the exhibition. Honfleur inspires their creativity and Réhahn, a citizen of this city, but very attached to Vietnam. The exhibition is truly a gift that photographer Réhahn wishes to bring to this place as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam - France relations.

Mr. Michel Lamarre, Mayor of Honfleur City, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang, MP Christophe Blanchet, Vice President of the France-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians Group attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition. Photo: Thu Ha/VNA correspondent in France

For his part, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang highly appreciated the initiative to organize this special exhibition. The Ambassador emphasized that "The exhibition is special because its author, photographer Réhahn, is French, but has chosen Vietnam as his second homeland, and the organization of this event is a great contribution to the friendship that binds France and Vietnam". Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang also welcomed the author's will and constant efforts in introducing the image of the country and people of Vietnam to the French and international public, serving as a bridge and contributing to weaving the bond of friendship between the two countries. In addition, the Ambassador affirmed that "This year 2023 marks 50 years of diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic partnership between France and Vietnam, but the common history between the two countries goes back much further than these days, and thanks to the contributions of people like photographer Réhahn and all of you present here, who are determined to maintain this close and cordial relationship in all areas of cooperation, at all administrative levels and at all levels of action in the relationship between France and Vietnam".

Parliamentarian Christophe Blanchet, Vice President of the France-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Group, commented, "The photos that Réhahn took, especially the portraits of Vietnamese women, all exude courage and kindness. When I went to Da Nang and Hoi An, I saw sincerity on these faces, in their smiles, and saw in them the joy of life, not suffering. That is also what we see in the works of Réhahn, who always wants to help people discover the beauty of Vietnam today."

For her part, Caroline Thévenin, the city’s deputy mayor in charge of culture, said that the effect of the combination of Réhahn’s impressive works with the colours of the sea, sky and light in Honfleur warms the hearts and cools the eyes of the locals and tourists who regularly walk along this coastal path. It is also a symbol of the encounter between two countries that we hope will last and develop over time.

Visitors to the exhibition. Photo: VNA

Born and raised in Normandy, photographer Réhahn lives and develops his career in Hoi An, Vietnam. He was voted by the international press as one of the world's top 10 portrait photographers, with the ability to "capture the soul of the subject in his portraits". Mr. Réhahn's photos are a unique combination of art and photography, regularly appearing in famous international media such as Condé Nast Traveler, The New York Times, National Geographic.... Since he was a child, he was inspired by the nostalgic beauty of the birthplace of Impressionism: Honfleur. The similarities he feels between the Vietnamese city of Hoi An (where he has lived since 2011) and his hometown coastal city, continue to inspire the career he is pursuing. Réhahn has travelled to over 35 countries, before settling in Hoi An, which he considers his second home. Particularly famous for his portraits in Vietnam, Cuba and India, the photographer has always spent a lot of time building close relationships with the people he met and photographed, and in gratitude, he launched the Give Back project to help those he photographed. During his time in Vietnam, he spent a lot of time exploring the richness and beauty of the ethnic communities in Vietnam. Realizing the fragile existence of ethnic cultural heritage in the rapidly developing country of Vietnam, he focused on photographing and collecting traditional costumes and precious artifacts to build the Precious Heritage Art Museum, which displays the heritage, costumes and photos of the traditional culture of ethnic groups that are gradually disappearing. The exhibition about the land and people of Vietnam in Honfleur by photographer Réhahn not only left a beautiful impression on the people and tourists but was also a meaningful cultural activity contributing to enhancing understanding and friendship between the Vietnamese and French peoples.

Nguyen Thu Ha (Vietnam News Agency)