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Rehahn and Gia Rai children in Kon Tum province |
After giving up his printing business in France in favour of living in Hoi An ancient town, Quang Nam, Rehahn C, 35 years old, now satisfies his photographic itch by travelling around Vietnam and has taken nearly 30,000 photos of the country and people of Vietnamese.
Owning an ice cream restaurant and a gallery in Hoi An, Rehahn still spends time for travel throughout Vietnam. He said, “Even after staying in Vietnam for a long time, I recognize that I know little about Vietnam.”
Charm from charitable activities
In 2007, Rehahn C first set foot in Vietnam to do charitable work through a non-governmental organization. Previously, each month he had sent a donation from France to support two girls, aged 7 and 13, who were fatherless in Hoi An, and the trip was to meet the two girls. The trip then became a great turning-point for Rehahn, making a motive between him and the country, which he calls “endless inspiration” for his photos.
Nine months after the meeting, Rehahn came back Vietnam for the second time with his wife. His intention of moving to live in Vietnam arose gradually after his visit to Vietnam. Over two years ago, Rehahn decided to move to live in Hoi An.
Rehahn said that at first his family in France did not believe his decision. “My family told me I should only travel to Vietnam, and the decision to live here may not be wise. However my family has now moved to live with me here,” Rehahn said.
Choosing the restaurant business to generate an income, Rehahn said the food business also helps him get a chance to meet many people, since it has opportunities to learn more about the culture and people in the locality. “I’m happy with life here. I feel I do not have to work in Vietnam, because what I’m doing is my passion and hobby. I do not see it as work.”
Like to take photo of Vietnamese people most
In his pictorial book titled “Vietnam – mosaic of contrasts” just published not long ago, Rehahn chooses to introduce 150 best photos among almost his 30,000 photos of Vietnam he has taken over the past six years. The book has 140 pages, which is a collection of nuanced portraits of Vietnamese people in many parts of the country.
It is clear from Rehahn’s photos is his preference is for portraits of the elderly and children.
“Children are very natural and carefree, while older people are very nice. I especially like the elderly with long beards and lines imprinted the time on their face and their hands. They are testament for the saying: beauty has no age,” Rehahn shared. “What I like is seen in the people I have photographed the most; they are laughing and happy, although their living conditions are extremely difficult, especially in the highlands region.”
Despite going and taking photos in many countries, Rehahn said he still likes to take portraits of Vietnamese people most. He said sometimes he has to spend hours together, even days to establish contact, make acquaintance, talk and hobnob with the characters in his photos to capture the most real emotions.
“Some people have asked me why I like taking photo of the poor, the dark side of society. I answered them that for me the poor are not the dark side, they may not be rich in material, but this does not mean that they lack spiritual beauty. The characters in my photos, just meeting casually in a trip, all give me confidence in a happy life, where materials and money are not the most important and meaningful. This is the thing that I truly love in this country,” Rehahn said.
For Rehahn, a beautiful portrait must come from photographer’s sincere feelings, who must really love and understand the people being photographed. A successful portrait is a photo representing both the photographer, the person who is taken and the relationship between them.
More than 100 photos in the book are the result of days Rehahn has travelled from north to south, from Phu Quoc to Dong Van by his own money. He said there were few suggestions of funding for his photo projects, but he refused because he wanted to be satisfied to take photos as he likes without being influenced by others.
Vietnam – colourful mosaic
Explaining the name of the book he affectionately called it a “love story” between him and Vietnam, Rehahn said he liked word “Mosaic”, it means joined painting. For Rehahn, Vietnam is a mosaic he wants to spend all his life to discover.
“In Vietnam, I have gone to many places by motorbike, I realized I know very little about Vietnam. Vietnam not only has Ha Long, Hue, Hoi An, but also Kon Tum, Ha Giang, Ba Be and Meo Vac. I enjoy learning about the ethnic groups in Vietnam. I have ever met Thai, Nung, H’Mong, M’nong, Gia Rai, E De, Co Tu ethnic minorities. And I would love to meet all the ethnic groups in Vietnam,” Rehahn said. “The book is all parts of a mosaic creating Vietnam in my eyes. I want to promote this book to international friends, so like me, they will be surprised and eager to discover colourful and diversified Vietnam.”
After “Vietnam – mosaic of contrasts”, Rehahn is cherishing many projects on another pictorial books about Hoi An, about Vietnamese children, and about Vietnamese women. Last year, Rehahn organized a photo exhibition about Vietnamese women in Hanoi and published an e -book Photographic Journey, which includes photos about his trips to northern provinces.
Rehahn said that his greatest interest is to continue to discover remote areas of Vietnam, contact with ethnic minorities. He said he was not suitable with big cities and likes to take photo of rice fields rather than multistory buildings or urban people with a hurried life, modern iPhones and expensive cars./.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
