Photographing the Vietnam War: A Comparative Reading of Two Photobooks from Vietnam (2019)
Channel: Zhuang Wubin
Date: 2019-05-13

This is a video recording of the paper delivered by Zhuang Wubin during the two-day conference (16-17 March 2019), "Light Writing: The Photographic Image Reloaded", organised in conjunction with the Chennai Photo Biennale, India. The conference took place at the Government Museum, Egmore. 

Abstract

The Vietnam War was one of the most bloodied conflicts in the spectre of Cold War. Since then, the research on Vietnam War photography has focused mainly on the works of Euro-American photographers, sometimes setting them apart from those who worked for the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. This paper takes a different approach by attempting a comparative reading of two iconic photobooks produced ostensibly to represent the viewpoints of the two Vietnams. The first photobook is "Viet Nam in Flames" (published c. 1969), involving photographers Nguyễn Mạnh Đan (1925-2019) and Nguyễn Ngọc Hạnh (1927-2017). The second book is "War Time Photos" (published in 2000) by Lâm Tấn Tài (1935–2001). While recognising the imprint of politics dividing both Vietnams, this paper attempts to resurface the parallel (and diverging) contexts that informed the production and afterlife of both photobooks. This is made possible by tracing the biographies of the photographers involved, their participation in the global milieu of salon photography, how they understood their involvements in the war efforts, and their lives after reunification. This reading aims to complicate our dichotomous impression of two Vietnams and to unpack the reach (and limits) of politics in photographic production.