Photographer Nguyễn Thành Dũng. -- Photo courtesy of the artist

Nguyễn Thành Dũng, a native of Hà Nội, graduated from the city's Academy of Theatre and Cinema. Currently he works as a photographer and cinematographer in HCM City. He works with a wide variety of projects such as music videos, TVC and series.

Last year, his exhibition entitled "Kaleidoscopic Vision" attracted many photograph lovers and was highly praised. Việt Nam News talks with Dũng about his passion for photography.

Inner Sanctum: Could you please introduce a bit about yourself and your journey into the world of photography?

Living between the two cities of Hà Nội and HCM City, I have learned to be grateful for the magical colourful beauty of everyday life. When I discovered that colours carry extremely great emotional nuances with visual experiences, I let go of all reason and let emotions and colours blend together through the camera frame.

For me, photography is not a way to exactly copy reality, but it opens up countless ways to explore and interpret the present from unique subjective perspectives. This approach to photography has motivated me to constantly explore how to exaggerate my emotions with life experiences through the impression of colours, surfaces, people and streets, and combine them with each other through reflections or out-of-focus images. The result is photos that have a dreamy, soft feeling as if they were painted by brush strokes and colours, not "captured" by a lens.

Thanks to this attitude towards life, I do not hesitate to experiment with "uncertain" things. I am not sure that the moment I press the shutter, there is really something interesting in the frame. I am not sure if the final photo will satisfy me or not. But I like to take risks with my own work like that! I also don’t know how the viewers will feel, but the correlation between these “uncertainties” gives us a very special connection between the viewers and the work.

Perhaps I continue to take photos because I cannot express my feelings in writing like writers, nor do I have any deep philosophy in the process of creating. I only have companions, the cameras, with me on this journey of life.

Inner Sanctum: How would you describe your photography style and what does photography mean to your life?

Colour is the element I seek most when practising photography. If you can find the depth and story behind colour, it can evoke very strong emotions. Therefore, I would describe my photography style as a feast of vibrant colours.

Photography occupies a very special place in my heart because I express most of my emotions through my camera. Whether I am feeling sad, happy, disappointed, or joyful, I go out to take photos. I have never imagined a life where I couldn’t hold a camera.

Nguyễn Thành Dũng examines his own photos. Photo courtesy of the artist

Inner Sanctum: Are there any artists who have influenced your photography style and works?

Of course. I draw inspiration from my favourite artists such as photographer Saul Leiter, photographer William Eggleston, and painter Mark Rothko. These are all pioneering artists in the use of colour in contemporary art. I remember the first time I saw William Eggleston's photos—I was shocked by how simple they were. But when those simple moments came together, combined with subtle colour harmony, they created a fantastic body of work. That was when I began to explore colour as an element and continued learning from the works of Leiter and the Colour Field painters of the Abstract Expressionist movement.

Inner Sanctum: How have your works changed from your early years of photography to now? Why did they change, and are you happy with these changes?

I believe I am much better now compared to when I first started practising photography.

My mode of expression is no longer limited by a fixed way of thinking, and I have found many ways to express my emotions through photography. When I started, I was passionate about colour but didn't know how to approach it properly, so my early photos felt a bit rigid and direct, almost to the point of being boring. Over time, through research and learning, I've improved this and learned to convey images and colours in a more subtle, metaphorical and hazy manner. With my new collection, I hope to maintain this approach to colour but offer the audience a completely new visual experience.

Inner Sanctum: Could you speak more about your exhibition, "Kaleidoscopic Vision"? Where did the inspiration and ideas for this series come from?

I’ve been working on "Kaleidoscopic Vision" for over a year, when I first started experimenting more with telephoto lenses in street photography. The idea for this series came from the first one or two photos, where I found abstraction in the way I presented the images. I continued in this direction, and gradually the series took shape, evolving into a larger body of work. This is a unique perspective that brings a fresh approach to street photography and abstraction in photography. All the subjects in the series are not clearly defined or staged in any way; they are often blurry and occupy a space that escapes traditional definitions.

A street photo by photographer Nguyễn Thành Dũng at his exhibition 'Kaleidoscopic Vision' in HCM City last year. Photo courtesy of the artist

Through "Kaleidoscopic Vision", I wanted to offer the audience a unique and fresh view of Vietnamese streets. This could range from the bustling, to the profound, to emotional landscapes created by colour. I hoped the exhibition would transport viewers into another world, a world with a subjective perspective that reflects a part of my inner self. Through this, I wanted the audience to appreciate the beauty of the streets, the familiar nooks and crannies, in a different way, and feel a powerful emotional response when standing before a visual feast of colours. This was also what made the exhibition special.

I am pleased to see my collection printed in large format, a size I have never experienced before. Seeing the large photos in person gives me a much more intense and emotional feeling compared to viewing them on a screen or through the camera. VNS