(NADS) - Artist Hoang Kim Dang, a teacher, a soldier returned from the war-torn Truong Son. Perhaps soldiers returning from the battlefield in general and the dangerous Truong Son in particular, always carry their own unique temperament.
Hoang Kim Dang was born and raised in the land of longan Pho Hien, which was once bustling with boats and wharfs. He was a good teacher, and was the principal at the young age of 25. The Minister of Education Nguyen Van Huyen visited the school, awarded the "Two Good" emulation flag and a certificate of merit.
He vowed to live his whole life for the children, but when the resistance war against the US entered an extremely fierce phase, listening to the call for the General Mobilization of the Fatherland, teacher Hoang Kim Dang said goodbye to his students, goodbye to his beloved school, far from his homeland, enthusiastically shouldered his backpack and went to the South to fight. And he stopped at the majestic Truong Son, carrying out the duty of an engineer soldier of the 559th Command, under the strategic command of Commander General Dong Sy Nguyen. Shortly after, due to his declining health, he was transferred to work as a photojournalist for the Truong Son Newspaper, along with the late poet Pham Tien Duat, the late writer Le Luu... Here, with his talent, he recorded vivid, brave moments of the heroic Truong Son soldiers, fighting bravely day and night, maintaining the smooth traffic flow to support the Southern battlefield.
After nearly 10 years of fighting in Truong Son. In 1974, Hoang Kim Dang was transferred to work for the Literature and Arts newspaper (Vietnam Writers Association). Here, Hoang Kim Dang worked as both an editor and a photojournalist. In 1980, he moved to work as the first editorial secretary of the Hanoi People newspaper founded by writer To Hoai and as Editor-in-Chief. In 1989, he was appointed as a permanent member of the Secretariat of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists. In 1994, Hoang Kim Dang was assigned to work as a specialist at the Central Ideology and Culture Department (now the Propaganda Department). In 2000, at the age of 60, he retired.
He said he was retired, but in reality he never had a day off. After writing, he took his camera and went out to take pictures, following the call of his profession. As a journalist and a photojournalist, in addition to demanding the realism of the photos, he also sought to express his work so that the photo had high artistic value, had a wide influence, attracted viewers, was recognized by many people, and became a lifetime work. Especially in the field of portrait photography, he had some top-notch works. That must be the photo of the eldest brother of the Vietnam People's Army - Mr. Van - General Vo Nguyen Giap, who had never attended any military school, raising his hand to salute the country, with the radiant smile of a winner who created a " Dien Bien Phu famous in five continents, shaking the earth " and the Great Victory of Spring 1975, the country was unified, defeated two great empires, France and America, and defeated 10 French and American generals.
The public also cannot forget the portrait of writer Nguyen Tuan. In just a split second, he highlighted the spirit of Nguyen Tuan, making him exclaim when he received his portrait from artist Hoang Kim Dang and he wrote: " If I were young, I would be happy to follow Hoang Kim Dang to take portraits of people and landscapes of my country. Dang "takes" very well ."
The public who loves the art of light as well as colleagues will always remember the portrait of the writer “ Vang bong mot thoi ” Nguyen Tuan by artist Hoang Kim Dang. With a bright face, a high, wide forehead, enough to say all the famous creative career of the writer “ Song Da do ”; “ Hanoi we are good at fighting the Americans ”!
Many writers, poets, and journalists told me that Hoang Kim Dang is a photographer who has achieved many successes in the field of art photography, especially art portrait photography. True! But according to the author of this article, not only in the field of visual culture (photography), having organized four personal art photography exhibitions, but also in the pages of Hoang Kim Dang's books, he has achieved many remarkable successes. First of all, we must mention the books " Glory of Vietnamese Art Photography "; " Love Poetry - Art Photography "; " A Perspective of the Country " (Notes - Reportage and Essays); "Art Photography - Reality and Creativity" which I have introduced in the newspaper... These books were introduced to readers right when artist Hoang Kim Dang turned 80, the age of "that decade co lai hy". Having contracted severe malaria in Truong Son, during the years of living and fighting here, his health declined a lot, but his working capacity did not decrease at all. He still worked hard all day long and wrote with the spirit of a Truong Son soldier in the past to promptly release to readers the book " Shining the Southern Land and Sky ", which the writer of this article had the honor of receiving from the author.
“ Shining the land and sky of the South ” is a short name but has many profound meanings. The book is presented solemnly, eye-catching, quite thick, nearly 500 pages, 20 x 25 cm in size, printed on good paper, with 4-color offset printing technique, published by the Vietnam Writers Association Publishing House at the end of 2024. “ Shining the land and sky of the South ” is a new genre, including articles, photos, handwriting, and signatures of famous people in the hearts of the public. Artist Hoang Kim Dang said that in order to introduce this book to readers, the artist had to spend many years collecting, accumulating, arranging, and editing documents with the sole purpose of giving the public a more comprehensive and clearer view of the country's sages.
The work “ Shining the Southern Land and Sky ” has just left the printing house, at the same time the Vietnam Writers Association Publishing House organized a rather grand book launch. Attending this event were many writers, artists, journalists, leaders of the Vietnam Writers Association such as President Nguyen Quang Thieu, Vice President - poet Tran Dang Khoa; Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations: poet Huu Thinh, poet Bang Viet, writer, painter, musician - Lieutenant General Huu Uoc and many friends and colleagues.
The book's uniqueness is not only the written pages but also the illustrations for the stories about famous figures in society including writers, poets, political, cultural and scientific activists, heroic generals of the people's armed forces... Although it does not include all the typical faces of the country, but just these people, portrayed by artist Hoang Kim Dang with the lens and "sharp pen - pure heart", have given the public an overview of the nature of the Vietnamese people, who are extremely intelligent but honest, simple, and wholeheartedly serving the people and the Fatherland. At the same time, through the written pages and photos, readers can see more clearly the talent of the artist Hoang Kim Dang as a writer and cameraman. These two types complement each other, making the book come alive, clarifying every corner of the life and career of each character.
With a young age of less than a century, and having experienced many fields of work: teacher, soldier, journalist... has helped artist Hoang Kim Dang have a sharp, very unique perspective (of a cameraman), observing quite meticulously, carefully recording every aspect of the character's life, thanks to that, the people in " Shining the land and sky of the South " are portrayed very differently from many other writers. In Hoang Kim Dang's eyes, the characters he mentioned are all famous people of the public, but their lives are extremely simple, not ostentatious, preaching. They live humbly, even though they are people with many contributions to the Fatherland, to the people. As literary critic Pham Xuan Nguyen affirmed: at the book launch: " Shining the land and sky of the South" by Hoang Kim Dang is a special collection, because the author writes with "shooting", takes pictures with literature and writes pictures also with literature ".
Many people say that he can use golden words to describe a look, a smile, a walk... to leave a portrait for the world. For Hoang Kim Dang, it is more than that. He has used photos and his own unique style of photography to depict 40 portraits of typical people in society.
Reading carefully the book “ Shining the land and sky of the South ”, we realize that although he is not a writer, the artist’s use of words is very literary and artistic, no different from a work of art photography that he has created. In the eyes of Hoang Kim Dang, through each page of the book, the photos of the 40 characters that he painstakingly described are all famous people, their contributions “shining (on) the land and sky of the South”. That is the eldest brother of the Great General Vo Nguyen Giap; the poet “ From that time ” To Huu; the best “liver surgeon” in the world named Ton That Tung; the musician, writer, painter Van Cao of “ Tien quan ca ” of “ Tien ve Ha Noi ” of “ Thang ca song Lo ”; the writer of “ Vang bong mot thoi ”, “ Ha Noi ta danh My khoi ” Nguyen Tuan...
Talking about Hoang Kim Dang's contribution to literature and art, poet Bang Viet shared: "... Hoang Kim Dang prepared for this project 30-40 years ago. He has been working for a long time, he carefully recorded and kept the most valuable documents about both the deceased and his contemporaries, but it is very difficult to access. Hoang Kim Dang's book is a treasure trove of valuable documents for everyone to understand, to find, to know about the shining examples of the sages. This is not only his passion but he has done a very responsible job for the country's literature and art career ."
Poet Bang Viet continued: “ The special point of the book is that it was not selected by any committee, but by the prestige and personal responsibility of artist Hoang Kim Dang, with a discerning eye, and a kind heart, loving people, he chose prestigious people, who have influence on the public. This is perhaps a way we should refer to, so that the literary and press world can introduce more Vietnamese people to friends around the world. ”
Artist Hoang Kim Dang, a teacher, a soldier returning from the fiery Truong Son. And perhaps soldiers returning from the battlefield in general and the arduous and dangerous Truong Son in particular, always carry their own unique temperament. Writer Phung Van Khai wrote about artist Hoang Kim Dang: “ He is an example of selfless work. Not noisy. Nor does he wait for rewards or anything. The person returning from Truong Son is calm, simple, but steadfast, patient, leisurely but determined, never stopping for a moment like a river flowing to the ocean in all four seasons. The person returning from Truong Son knows how to organize and devote his whole life to literature and art. His art, the person returning from the legendary Truong Son, is always like a fire that fuels our young generation to move forward strongly .”
The author of this article would like to add one more idea: The person who returned from Truong Son is very talented, not only taking photos, writing, composing poetry, he is also a top-notch art designer and book designer!
Source: https://nhiepanhdoisong.vn/hoang-kim-dang-nguoi-nghe-si-da-tai-15578.html
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