Contemporary focus on Vietnam’s past and present

“Multiple Entry Visa: To Vietnam and Back”

Howard Henry Chen

Through Feb. 10, 2007… “Multiple Entry Visa: To Vietnam and Back”

Howard Henry Chen

Through Feb. 10, 2007

Silver Eye Center for Photography

1015 East Carson St., South Side

(412) 431-1810

Ancientmonuments rise before lush jungles and mountains. People climb steps in anamusement park bordered by man-made elephant tusks that rise 20 feet into theair. While these images may seem completely unrelated, they are both subjectsof Howard Henry Chen’s photography and share powerful links to the landin which they were taken: Vietnam.

Chen’sphotography is currently on display at Silver Eye Center for Photography in anexhibit titled “Multiple Entry Visa: To Vietnam and Back.” Chen isan award-winning photographer from Chicago who continually travels to Vietnam.In this current exhibit, Chen captures Vietnam’s tourism boom and theeffects that war has had on both the landscape and the people.

In”My Vietnamese cousin on his first trip to see the grounded Huey in HoChi Minh City,” Chen’s cousin sits and smokes a cigarette. In thislarge photograph, composed of three separate prints, Chen’scousin’s attention is drawn to something beyond the helicopter that sitsin front of him.

Directly in the center of the photoare the gnarly roots of a large, tropical tree. In the left-hand corner, deadplants in pots caked with dirt sit on a cement surface. Overall, Chen seems tobe commenting on the lack of interest the Vietnamese youth expresses toward thewar that ravaged their country decades earlier.

Incontrast to this photograph, Chen also includes images of children walking inamusement parks in “Tyrannosaurus and Brontosaurus (after W. EugeneSmith), Ho Chi Minh City.” The two children, wearing bright reds andblues, walk on a pathway between dueling dinosaurs that soar above them. Thedinosaurs’ expressions reveal large fangs and menacing eyes.

Theimages that Chen provides are rich with color. Many photographs showcase richhues of green emanating from the tropical foliage in Vietnam while otherphotographs display the colorful facades and ornate architecture of buildings.

In”Celine, behind the Sunwah Tower, Ho Chi Minh City,” Chen capturesa young woman marveling at an old ritual construction while the Sunwah Tower, amodern building, rises in the background. The ritual structure has a bright,blue base and colorfully dressed stone figures adorning the walls. The buildingis visually stunning, sticking out from the gray-and-white modern buildings inthe backdrop.

Chen’sphotographs are assembled in a way that provides yet another visual curiosity.In many photographs, Chen composes an image from several prints, and the effectis that of a large landscape portrait.

However,the images are slightly misaligned and not quite perfect. This gives the imagean almost jigsaw feel. Chen seems to be describing visually the incongruitiesthat many youths in Vietnam perceive in the shaping and history of theircountry.

Chenalso plays with shutter speed in his photographs. His main subjects arerendered clear. However, the people around his subjects are blurred -they are made ghostlike.

Chen’sphotographs are captivating and hold significant meaning. Capturing war-torn Vietnamand modern-day amusements, Chen successfully juxtaposes the past with the hopefor a brighter future for a country and its people who have endured so much.