"The stories of Vietnamese veterans in my book, now still a draft, are not purely historical information. Instead, they carry profound humanistic meaning about the great contributions and sacrifice of previous generations so that the current young generation in Vietnam can live in freedom and peace," he said in an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency (VNA) correspondents in Argentina on the occasion of the 80th founding anniversary of the Vietnam People's Army (December 22, 1944 - 2024).
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Argentinean photographer Jorge Monaco |
Monaco, who is Director of the National School of Photography in Buenos Aires, recalled that he first came to Vietnam in 1997, when the country just began to implement the door opening policy. Captivated by the history and the heroic fighting spirit of the Vietnamese people, he delved into the stories of individuals, from soldiers and youth volunteers to victims of Agent Orange.
In 1998, he took the first photo of a Vietnamese veteran, who was accidentally the father of a VNA journalist. Since then, his idea of creating a photo project about the Vietnam War gradually formed. In 2010, he returned to Vietnam with a specific plan. He spent a month and a half traveling various regions across the country to capture images of veterans and war remnants.
Upon returning to Argentina, he spent two years editing content, researching historical documents, and completing the draft of the bilingual photo book "War Memories."
The book consists of three chapters - veterans in the war of a nation, other victims, and war remnants. With nearly 100 selected photographs, the book not only captures the portraits of veterans but also depicts the tremendous sacrifices of the entire nation.
Characters featured in the book include Major General Tran Minh Duc, who participated in both resistance wars against the French and the Americans, and Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Duc Dung, who kept the Vietnamese national flag flying besides Ben Hai River throughout the war years.
The photographer also captured images of young female volunteers driving trucks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail or children playing on the wreckage of American tanks, which he said left him with strong emotions.
His works have been exhibited in many countries and have won numerous prestigious awards, including first prize at the 2024 Sony World Photography Awards. Some photos from the "War Memories" project are currently being exhibited at the Hyderabad Photo Festival in India, which runs until January 5, 2025.
Monaco hopes that one day soon, his photo book will be published so that the young generations of Vietnam and Argentina can look back at the past, remember the contributions of previous generations, and treasure the current peace.
Source: VNA