By Prof. Steve Bisson, Paris College of Art
Chief editor Urbanautica Institute
The living conditions of the masses have not always coincided with an earthly Eden. Even today, this is the case if we observe urbanism and, in particular, the state of the suburbs or the metropolitan densities that leave little space for green dreams. A terrace is already a privilege. In its progressive urbanization, the human species has distanced itself from nature,
[…]
This series has been presented at the International Photo Biennale Hanoi in 2023 at the exhibition “IN SEARCH OF THE LOST TIME”.
Quang Lam’ artist statement :
There are places where architecture and urban planning are not only shaped by the needs of the Present but also by the beliefs of a life beyond.
This photographic series is imbued with this philosophy that shaped Hue, the imperial city in central Vietnam,
[…]
“Water
haunts my dreams. It has always been source of obsession since I was a little
boy. In my obscure childhood recollections, water stirs up unsettling feelings.
I found myself in Tri An Lake by chance, the site one of the biggest
hydroelectric dams in the South of Vietnam. Here, water is the fate of the
people. They are the water and the water is their lives. It is also their
dreams, their hopes and hopelessness.
[…]
“Movement and tranquility alternate and become the root of each other,
Separating into yin and yang and so establishing the two modes….
The interaction of the two forms of qi transform and generate the myriad things.
The myriad things sprout out up again and again and change without end”
-Zhou Dunyin (1017–1073)
He was a Chinese philosopher during the Song Dynasty.
He conceptualized the cosmology,
[…]
Photographer Hoang Nhiem extends his interests to social issues and human influences on nature. In his photographs, nature is not just an landscape/object but a victim in a story that needs to be told.
“From Hà Giang to Trà Vinh, I capture resilient trees in their habitat. In my photographs, I use infrared technique to convey their beauty and strong vitality, despite the destruction caused by humanity in their path to ‘develop’ and find convenient comfort.”
[…]
Landscape genre: “Landscape painting, the depiction of natural scenery in art. Landscape paintings may capture mountains, valleys, bodies of water, fields, forests, and coasts and may or may not include man-made structures as well as people. Although paintings from the earliest ancient and Classical periods included natural scenic elements, landscape as an independent genre did not emerge in the Western tradition until the Renaissance in the 16th century. In the Eastern tradition, the genre can be traced back to 4th-century-CE China.” – Britannica.
[…]
This series is telling the temptation of Siddhārtha Buddha by the Goddess of Beauty, in an imaginary paradise full of flowers. As principle of Buddhism, the Middle Way should be followed between the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification. But it is not easy to comply strictly with this recommendation.
Seeing photography is more an analogic process than a logic one, with a sense of humor too. This is how the series should be appreciated as a fairy tale.
[…]
Phu Quoc, between mangroves and magical trees.
Located off the coast of southern Vietnam, Phu Quoc was at one time a place
for the exiled and imprisoned. Until recently, it took eight hours on a
merchant ship to reach the island from the mainland. This remoteness, though, was instrumental in
the island retaining most of its natural treasures.
For most of the people, its main attractions are its beaches and the sea,
[…]
“an aesthestic moment’ of a timeless feeling of enlightened harmony as the poet’s nature and the environment are unified” – Kenneth Yasuda
