Dreams of a Butterfly

This blog contains materials originally intended for my school alumni -- from the Lycee Marie Curie in Saigon, Vietnam. It is by its original audience rather nostalgic and wistful, hence the butterfly, a reference to the well-known story by Zhuang Zi. The old boys and girls can sometimes, however, get quite academic and/or bawdy. The postings can be in English, French or Vietnamese. All postings are copyrighted. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Photos by Dao Dang Trieu Duong

A lot of you may remember my good friend Duong (ex TC2) as a very
caring and funny fellow. His day job is in civil engineering in
Montreal. But he is also a very talented and accomplished photographer
with a real artistic sensibility. I was so moved looking at some of
his pictures that I had to say something about them.

This is my favorite. http://www.pbase.com/daliakin/image/65003368
For some reason I find it strangely arousing ('excitant'), perhaps a kind
of hidden erotic fantasy combined with perfect composition.
Formalistically the picture seethes with tension between the classical
framework of the setting and the romantic allure of the young woman.
Yang and yin; hard and soft, architecture and poetry. Such a stunning
opposition: a promise of tenderness with a flash of legs -- oh so
human, oh so divine -- combined with an almost brutal set of columns a
la Riefenstahl --in this context they look totalitarian.

In any event he is at the top of his form.Like here http://www.pbase.com/daliakin/image/102329659 This shot deserves to be in textbooks on photography. The ballet of forms with a steel gray background, the drops of water seized in mid air, the shadow of the bird in flight, all of these so vivid as to make you think the picture is some kind of Chinese painting. You can't help wondering how he does it technically. He is obviously a master of high ISO setting.

One day I will curate Duong's work. In the meantime do move around and
enjoy his photo site.

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