VietNamNet Bridge – A photography exhibition celebrating an outside-in view of Viet Nam has opened at the Sofitel Plaza Hotel in Ha Noi.

What’s this daddy? An exhibition by foreign photographers depicts Vietnamese life and scenery. It is attracting large crowds of interested local people.

The show aims to boost Viet Nam’s image abroad and is a chance for artists to share the way they see the country, says acting president of the HIWC Mirjam de Boer. “We want to look at the development and changing of the country during the renewal process,” she says.

Visitor Myrna Eijsenring from the Netherlands says the show is very useful for foreigners who want to learn more about Viet Nam. “The works on display reflect different parts of the culture and help foreign visitors like me understand more about this wonderful country.

“I like the photo Moving and Grooving by Whitney Edson. It shows a blue high-heeled shoe worn by a girl on a motorbike. It’s a very simple image but contains thousands of stories. The girl may be stuck in a traffic jam on a busy street, I imagine she’s on her way home. I was still thinking about it when I was looking the other pictures.”

Edson says her work is designed to depict the diversity that is modern Viet Nam.

“From the village boy herding his cow, to the teenager performing amazing feats on his skateboard after school, all of these weave together to make the fabric of the vibrant.”

Artist Susan Taylor says she is also inspired by Viet Nam’s vivacity. “I am striving to depict the dynamism of Viet Nam’s culture, her youth, her arts; indeed the rhythm of Viet Nam,” she says.

It was the people themselves whom photographer Black Bryan says she was interested in: “My first impression of Viet Nam was of a country attempting to improve itself from poverty and hardship but nevertheless the people I met were helpful, happy and full of enthusiasm for the future.”

Formed by a group of 30 diplomatic women in 1986, the HIWC now has annual membership of 440 women from approximately 56 countries. The non-profit club aims to raise funds for their Community Aid Projects, which improve the lives of disadvantaged women and children, and small communities in Ha Noi.

Photographs displayed at the exhibition will be for sale with proceeds going to supporting HIWC charities.

The exhibition will be held until this Friday with the support of the Sofitel Plaza Hotel.

(Source: Viet Nam News)