Exhibition of the photo historian

Attending the opening ceremony of the exhibition was comrade Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh, Deputy Head of the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Department of Ho Chi Minh City.

The exhibition displays 99 typical works by photographer Minh Loc, selected from thousands of photos capturing historical moments, fighting spirit and life of the army and people across the country during the resistance war against the US to save the country.

NSNA Minh Loc's real name is Nguyen Huu Loc, born in 1937 in Cao Lanh ( Dong Thap ), currently living in Ho Chi Minh City. He was a youth volunteer, reporter for Vietnam News Agency, member of Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists.

In 1955, after regrouping to the North, he attended the first photography class, then worked in Quang Ninh (1962) before going to the battlefields of Central and Southern Vietnam. From the first days of holding a camera, Minh Loc determined that photography was not only an art but also a mission to preserve history for future generations.

In 2022, he was awarded the State Prize for Literature and Arts with the series of works "Northern Women in the Resistance War Against the US to Save the Country" including 8 photos: "December 18, 1972, the US bombed Hanoi station", "Female self-defense forces ready to fight", "Female self-defense forces of a confectionery factory on duty on the roof of a Hanoi street", "Female self-defense forces Nguyen Thi Hoa, a unit hunting low-flying aircraft, shot down an F4 American aircraft in Quang Binh "...

During his time working in Quang Ninh, NSNA Minh Loc traveled to all the mines, mine floors, deep mines, ventured through the forest, went down deep mines, and traveled throughout the coal regions of Cam Pha, Hon Gai, and Uong Bi.

From there, he recorded authentic images of the life and working and fighting spirit of miners amidst bombs and bullets. Many of his photos of female workers’ smiles, sweat on miners’ faces, or scenes of hospitals under bombs… have become valuable historical documents.

Thanks to that commitment, he won many international photography awards, including the Grand Prize in Switzerland, the Soviet Union, the Silver Medal in Iraq, the Grand Prize “Red Crescent” and the Gold Medal in Russia.

More than 50 years ago, during the 12-day and night campaign in late December 1972, NSNA Minh Loc captured in photos the resilient fighting moments of the army and people of Hanoi, Hai Phong and other northern localities. From female self-defense forces on the rooftops of Hanoi, to the units that shot down American F-4s in Quang Binh, all exuded the desire for peace and national reunification.

His photo history continued in the spring of the nation's great victory, when artist Minh Loc attended the rally, parade, and march to celebrate the victory at the Independence Palace (May 15, 1975) with more than 55,000 people attending. The photo series he took that day captured the images of the Party and State leaders, artists, and people of Saigon - Gia Dinh City joyfully welcoming the country's reunification. This photo series was later used in the photo book "Ho Chi Minh City - 50 years of proud heroic epic".

The exhibition “NSNA Minh Loc - The Photographer Who Writes History Through Photos” is not only an opportunity to look back on the creative career of a photographer who has devoted his life to every page of the country's history, but also a tribute to a historical witness who used his lens to preserve memories for future generations.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/trien-lam-cua-nguoi-viet-su-bang-anh-post808326.html