Contemporary trends in photography practice and training

The seminar was organized by the School of Interdisciplinary Sciences and Arts (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) in collaboration with the Hanoi Creative Activities Coordination Center at the Hanoi Museum, attracting many artists, students and the public in the context of artistic photography being a relatively new field of study but rich in potential applications.

If photography is only understood in the common way of creating “images” from devices capable of recording images, whether in digital form or printed in physical form, it is not enough and prejudice will become a barrier that limits creativity in photography.

To illustrate how photography is being redefined around the world, young artist Mai Nguyen Anh (born in 1992) introduced to the audience some remarkable international photography projects with unique ideas and expressions. For example, the Japanese artist’s collage of individual photos or the series of photos intentionally collected from the automatic photo archive of Google Street View, which the American artist has been working on for many years.

Another resounding project was when a group of French and Chinese artists collected negatives from many landfills in Beijing (China) to classify and publish them into books of landscape and daily life photos with high documentary and artistic value.

Mai Nguyen Anh is a young and active face in the contemporary photography community in Vietnam.

In Vietnam, practicing photography outside the scope of the camera has also seen the emergence of some names such as Le Quang Dinh with the technique of weaving multi-layered photos (overlapping photos), Nguyen The Son with relief photography (combined with sculpture)...

Sharing more about this trend, artist Nguyen The Son affirmed that to have quality works, the author not only needs knowledge of photography techniques but also must grasp the basic principles of fine arts and art history. Some famous Vietnamese or Vietnamese-origin photographers whose works have reached international level all have a background in painting and practice interdisciplinary art, such as Le Quang Dinh, Jun Nguyen Hatsushiba, Tiffany Chung, etc.

Recently, photography has been recognized as a visual art. Photography training is no longer just “attached” to film or journalism training, but has formed independently in the formal education system such as at Hue University and Hanoi National University. The development of photography has also led to the emergence of related professions such as photographer, curator, exhibition designer.

AI is increasingly being applied in all forms of art, including photography.

In addition, an indispensable factor in all social and artistic fields today is the development and impact of technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR)... Photos created or edited by AI tools are increasingly perfect and have become an indispensable part of photography. AI photos have been accepted in some countries, and there are even competitions and exhibitions dedicated to this type.

Another trend is staged and arranged photography to express the author’s thoughts, reflect the times and convey strong messages to the public. In countries like China, Thailand, Cambodia… there have been quite successful artists with this genre.

Discussing the issue of censorship of photographic works before publication or exhibition, photographer Nguyen Anh said that many people will be surprised to know that the art censorship system of some developed countries is very strict. Censorship is necessary and artists can choose: works that want to be released to the public must be "framed" according to regulations, on the contrary, highly personal works will reach fewer viewers. However, that is also the motivation for artists to delve deeper into research, create new photographic languages ​​or promote their own unique, native characteristics.

Photography in Vietnam has a long history and great contributions, but mainly in the form of documentary, journalistic, and media photography. Entering the new era, photography needs to further enhance its artistic and commercial value. Equal to other artistic practices, photography also has an audience, that is, consumers, consuming cultural products. Once again, the long-standing concern of the community of artists and photography lovers was reiterated at the discussion, which is the expectation of soon having a professional museum institution for photography, not only preserving but also organizing specialized events, exhibitions of contemporary photography works, introducing authors to the public.

Currently, the Lai Xa Photography Museum or the Archives Center of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists have not met expectations. However, the encouraging sign is that creative, connecting and integrating photography activities are taking place more and more. The Hanoi International Photography Festival is such a space.

Held for the first time in 2023, Photo Hanoi'23, organized by the French Institute in Vietnam in coordination with the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, gathered more than 200 famous Vietnamese and international artists and experts, bringing more than 40 photography exhibitions to dozens of creative cultural spaces in the capital, attracting about 170,000 direct visitors and millions of accesses on digital platforms...

In preparation for Photo Hanoi'25 in November this year, it is expected that in the coming time, there will be a series of rich and practical creative, research and discussion events.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/xu-huong-thuc-hanh-va-dao-tao-nhiep-anh-duong-dai-post876216.html