At his house, we heard him talk about his journey of "meeting the right moment" to take an excellent photo called "The joy of getting to know a robot".
From confusion to the moment of enlightenment
According to Mr. Van, the content of this work records students passionately assembling and controlling robots in a science and technology exhibition space. Behind the frame is the story of the curiosity of the photographer, who is over 80 years old, mixed with the joy of children when touching technology. This work also shows how a heart works persistently to turn everyday moments into messages of the future.
Mr. Van smiled and said: “I learned about the contest quite late, through the invitation of friends. At that time, they introduced me to Viet Anh 2 Primary School (Di An, Binh Duong ), where a science and technology exhibition was taking place with the participation of students from many levels. I thought this would be a good opportunity to find inspiration for my work. When I got to the school gate, I remembered that I had not contacted in advance, so I had to ask the security guard to pass the message to the principal. Luckily, the school was very open, listened to my presentation and then allowed me to visit. I was very happy to be able to enter, but also nervous because this is an area I rarely take photos of.”
The exhibition space opened before his eyes like a “miniature robot universe”: One group competed in an automatic car race, another group controlled a simulated mechanical trash-collecting arm, and in another corner were assembly kits shining under the classroom lights.
“Watching the kids work makes me feel… behind the times. Behind the times here is the feeling of being amazed at how quickly the kids are updating technology. Each display area is like a miniature robot “testing workshop”, where the kids are passionately discussing, debating, pressing buttons, fixing errors and then cheering when a part works as expected,” Mr. Van said with a smile.
To capture the moment, Mr. Van walked around all morning. Sometimes he stood still and observed, sometimes he stopped to ask and learn about each group of students controlling the robot to take pictures based on his own emotions. "It's easy to take a lot of pictures, but to capture the spirit, you have to wait. What I look for is the moment when everyone's eyes are focused on the Run key, the tiny hands shaking and steady when pushing the last module into place, the smile that bursts out when the robot crawls over an obstacle. When those pieces are assembled, I raise the camera," Mr. Van said.
Among the hundreds of photos he took, for Mr. Van, there is one in particular that he cannot forget. It is the photo “Robot Eyes” - a name he gave simply but containing deep emotions. The frame stopped at the intersection of three levels of movement: the robot rolling on the table, the small hands circling and the bright arc of faces behind. “The main character is not the robot but the eyes of the children, both curious and confident,” Mr. Van said slowly.
“I want viewers to feel that technology is not dry. It can make children's eyes light up with joy and confidence,” he added.
Interestingly, to capture that moment, he did not use a professional camera. An old Sony RX compact, its case worn over the years, was his only companion that day. “Many people brought large cameras with long lenses, but I only had a small camera, so I was a bit shy. But shy, not self-conscious. The camera is just a tool, the important thing is whether you have enough patience to wait for the moment or not,” he said with a smile.
After the exhibition, he returned with a memory card full of photos. After filtering and re-filtering, he chose a few photos to send to the contest, simply thinking that “being exhibited or encouraged is fun”. However, when he received the notice that he had made it to the final round, he was really surprised. His friends encouraged him: “You should go to Hanoi , being in the final round means you have a high ranking!”. At that time, he asked the organizers to book tickets and accommodation to prepare to go to Hanoi to receive the award.
Mr. Van smiled awkwardly: "I didn't expect a photo from an impromptu trip to receive such a high award."
One touch technology and the feeling stays
Working as a photographer since 1985, Mr. Van grew up in the grassroots cultural environment in Phu Long commune, then after the merger of units, he worked in Thuan An district and held the role of Director of the district cultural center. He was both a manager and participated in cultural and artistic movements and many times he sat on the judge's chair of local cultural and artistic competitions.
In addition to his professional work in culture, he is also passionate about artistic photography, and his photos have won many awards at home and abroad. But reaching the final round of the "Technology from the Heart" contest is still the most special thing for him, because the content of this photo is very new to someone who is used to taking landscape and portrait photos and is old like him.
Mr. Van said: “The feeling when working is a transformation. If before I was fascinated by the beauty of lines and light, this time I was drawn into the movement of learning, the movement of hands, eyes, and team spirit. Every time I hear laughter, even sighs when the robot “hits the wall”. Although those sounds are not shown in the photo, I believe that viewers can… “hear” them in the technology works I took for the competition this time.”
To retain that feeling, Mr. Van chose to process the image gently, keeping the colors true, adjusting the contrast very little. He did not want to "polish" too much for fear of losing the school spirit. "The photo is like a diary page. It will help us record the moment when the students truly live with what they like and are passionate about.
In Mr. Van’s story, he repeatedly mentioned the openness of the organizing committee and the school. If he had been rejected at the gate that day, the photo that entered the final round would not have been created. Openness to photographers is equal to openness to technology in the classroom. “When adults open the door, children have more opportunities to try. When I left, I went home with gratitude to the school and the students,” Mr. Van said.
Mr. Van said: “I will continue the education - technology - student photography series. I want to go to more schools and record how students learn technology in different conditions. I think that today, robots are not just games but also small projects serving the community such as the garbage collection model, automatic robots... that you saw that day. If possible, I hope my photos contribute a little to the development of science and technology education to bring more experiences to future generations.”
We said goodbye to Mr. Van when the sun had filled the porch. On his desk, a small camera lay next to a stack of faded certificates and a few landscape photos he had taken long ago. A lifetime of working in the cultural field made him speak slowly, leaving room for action and silence when necessary. For him, holding a camera was not to “hunt for awards” but to get one step closer to what he believed was beautiful. There was the beauty of a child’s bright eyes, the smile that emerged after a challenge with technology.
The contest, called “Technology from the Heart”, perhaps found the right person to tell stories through images like Mr. Van. Without “magically” turning the camera into something powerful, he just let his heart stand in the right place, at the right time, and when that heart met the tiny hearts of students passionate about robots, the photo and the message naturally appeared.
Source: https://baotintuc.vn/nguoi-tot-viec-tot/khoanh-khac-cong-nghe-tu-trai-tim-nguoi-ke-chuyen-bang-anh-mat-hoc-tro-20251021103736208.htm
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