Storyteller of former Con Dao prisoners through photos

On July 27, at the Youth Cultural House (HCMC), photographer Nguyen A organized an exhibition and introduced two photo books, "Death row inmates, former prisoners of Con Dao return" and "Peacekeeping squad in the land of fire".

The displayed images not only speak of the silent dedication and sacrifice of previous generations for the country, but are also meaningful works of art.

All the feelings of pride, solidarity, love and strong ideals of the revolutionary soldiers were encapsulated in more than 200 pages of the book. The cover photo is a very touching image of two women hugging and crying, a female tourist who could not control her emotions when meeting "real people, real events" former prisoner Phan Thi Be Tu - a living witness who was brutally tortured in Con Dao.

Photographer Nguyen A shares about the process of creating the work.

Photographer Nguyen A shared: “Through the two books and exhibition, I hope I can express my respect to the death row inmates, former prisoners of Con Dao in particular, and to the heroes in general who still have time to admire and enjoy the peaceful days of the country. Through this, I also hope that young people will know how to cherish the values ​​of peace, and understand the noble sacrifices of many uncles and aunts in the past.”

The book “The Land of Fire and Peace” tells the story of a bomb disposal team in the “land of fire” Quang Tri , but in the frames it is all green. Green grass, green forest, green shirts, the badge of the NPA/RENEW organization is green and the eyes of the boys and girls when clearing bombs and destroying explosives are also green.

The book Death Row Prisoners, Former Con Dao Prisoners Returning to Con Dao follows former prisoners returning to Con Dao. The photo series has the main colors black and red from the group's uniforms.

The author took souvenir photos with "living witnesses" at the book launch.

Together with 39 uncles and aunts in their 80s returning to Con Dao for 5 days, the photographer was also fortunate to feel and respect the noble qualities of the loyal revolutionary soldiers. There were unforgettable moments of choking and tears. In particular, among them were 4 couples who were former prisoners and comrades in arms and until now they still live happily together.

Former death row inmate Ha Van Hien (Truong Tan Bien) shares about a photo of himself in his old prison cell, now on display at an exhibition on the day of the photo book launch.

Former death row inmate Ha Van Hien (Truong Tan Bien) said he thanked photographer Nguyen A for letting him relive the tragic yet heroic moments. He felt moved not only when he visited Con Dao prison where he was once imprisoned, but also because he was so lucky to be living in peace like today.

Photographer Nguyen A (born in 1968) has organized 16 exhibitions and launched photo books with many themes related to national pride and the beauty of the homeland, tangible and intangible culture such as: "Green Summer Youth Volunteers" (2008), "Hoang Sa - Truong Sa, Vietnam's sea and islands" (2014), "Don ca tai tu - Confessions of the nation and homeland" (2017), "Ly Son - Today" (2018), "Vietnamese spirit and the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic", "Stubborn Saigon", "Journey with peacekeeping forces in South Sudan" (2022)...

These two photo books have added to photographer Nguyen A's "asset" of 19 photo books. Among them, his most recent photo book, Journey with the Peacekeeping Forces in South Sudan, was awarded second prize in the 2022 National Award for Foreign Information and the 2022 Mai Vang Award of the Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper.

Source: http://www.baogiaothong.vn/nguoi-ke-chuyen-cuu-tu-con-dao-bang-anh-d598731.html