ON THE OCCASION OF MOTHER DAY 2016:
PHOTOGRAPHER NGUYEN VU PHUOC WITH ARTS PHOTO EXHIBITION
"LABOR OF LOVE - A MOTHER'S JOURNEY”
Great Russian Writer wrote "without Mothers, there are neither poets nor heroes". That is true that without Mother with 9 months and 10 days of heavy carrying and without her car, there are neither poets nor heroes in this world?
There are many wonderful things in this life but the most wonderful thing of a woman is to be a mother. Those who ever carried a tiny baby inside her could fully understand the hard things, worries and also happiness of a mother. At that time, every feelings of the mother seen to be for her baby only: for that she tries to overcome the difficult time in preparation, hard-to-sleep nights, and tries to eat the things good for the baby and feels happy when preparing the tiny things for the baby and then surfers from pains of in labor time (the pain must be very serious because it is normally said that "as painful as in labor" and after that the mother may also face the postpartum events and have an ugly body after giving birth to the baby etc. There is no words and it is also very difficult to make others understand fully the sacred sacrifice and happiness of the mother when welcoming her baby to this world.
Following the photo project for 17 years, Nguyen Vu Phuoc has made a feat for "LABOR OF LOVE - A MOTHER'S JOURNEY" through the lively message "All women are beautiful, especially when they are keeping the most precious vocation: Motherhood". This spiritual child has taken much time and efforts of Nguyen Vu Phuoc. However, for Phuoc, this romantic love that he has followed is very sacred and great because "LABOR OF LOVE - A MOTHER'S JOURNEY" is the journey to capture the sacred moments of the beloved mothers, sisters, wives to continue the life for this world for many generations after.
After six thousands of days and nights of thinking and contacting many doctors, nurses, midwives at many women hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City who share the same idea to approach and witness thousands of sacred but not repeated moments. Thousands of the start moments of the life, thousands of the stories have been told in the language of light, charming of the art and are selected in 120 photo works of the project. These moments are perfect in some times but many sudden moments and problems have been also appeared to cause the neurological challenges to this 51 kg-weighted man and he had to removed these biological trauma to select the best corner to capture the best photos for the project. He can be only relaxed after completing the mission of a "messenger" who captures the smiles, tears of happiness of the mothers, fathers, doctors and nurses etc.
Sharing about the most memorable memory in the journey to record the in labor process of the mothers, Nguyen Phuoc Vu shared that that is the first footages of the "LABOR OF LOVE, A MOTHER'S JOURNEY" project that he captured at Tu Du Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City) at 0:00 on December 31st, 1999 - that was the moment to turn to the new century with the first citizen of Ho Chi Minh City for 21st century. These sacred and precious moments were started with the pains of the mothers and then the cries of the baby to welcome the life and the happy smiles of not only the mothers, the fathers but the doctors, nurses and medical staff of the hospital as well as the leaders of the city who were present at that moment. Another memorable memory is the moment that he captured the In labor process of his wife to welcome his daughter named Nguyen Hoang Thien Di to this world on March 26th, 2016. "That is the time that I feel myself great when I had to both witness the pains of my wife to give the birth to our daughter and welcome my daughter in her first moments to this life. I promised myself that I would love these two ladies until the last breaths of my life and I want to share these moments to every one to make the husbands, the men to love more their wives, their mothers, their sisters" shared Nguyen Vu Phuoc.
The journalist, photographer Dong Duc Thanh commented about "LABOR OF LOVE, A MOTHER'S JOURNEY" Project of Nguyen Vu Phuoc: "Nguyen Vu Phuoc is determined to implement an idea, a heavyweight and long-way photography project that makes us imagine about the journey of "heavy carrying, painful labor" of "a father" of a project. The journey of 17 years is now "square and round" and I would like to express my respect and wish him for success and I believe that Phuoc will be successful with his photo exhibition, photo book because we all once wish for "square and round". Meanwhile Doctor Truong Thao - Vice Manager of Reproductive Department said that "By chance, one day, I watched the photos by Photographer Nguyen Vu Phuoc. I was stunned without saying a word because they are so beautiful. "Our works" - doctors of reproductive department - are the cries of the newborns, the tiring smiles but full with happiness of the women and these photos by Phuoc are the most beautiful and sacred photos about the in-labor journey". Doctor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong - Former Director of Tu Du Hospital wrote in the Preface for the photo project of Nguyen Vu Phuoc: "We would like to say thank you to the author, photographer Nguyen Vu Phuoc for his "LABOR OF LOVE - A MOTHER'S JOURNEY" and for his precious thinking and enthusiastic labor for the project about the most sensitive moments of our women. I hope that through these photos, you will feel and understand fully the great merits of your parents, the love and care of the community for you and you will respond to these merits with loves, dedications and the works to connect and continue the life cycle. In this way, our society will be better at the time we say goodbye to the life than that in the day we are welcome to the life and we can smile to rest in peace in the loving tears of the surrounding people for us".
Nguyen Vu Phuoc becomes an design artist, photographer since 1993 and has been awarded with more than 300 national and international art photograph awards in such countries as America, France, England, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Macau, China, Taiwan, Serbia, Montenegro. He has just become the member of Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists. The photos by Nguyen Vu Phuoc are normally about the daily life, sadness, joy, happiness, pain of the people of all ages: the old, women, men, children as a part of dairy of the life to enrich the cultural activities of Vietnam.
"LABOR OF LOVE, A MOTHER'S JOURNEY" Art Photo Exhibition and photo book with the same name by Nguyen Vu Phuoc will be officially introduced to the public at 9:00 on May 26th until May 30th at City Exhibition Center (92 Le Thanh Ton, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City).
Thanh Thuy