Anyhow... Here is the first part of an interview with photographer Long Thanh from Nha Trang, vietnam. The conversation lasted over an hour but I trimmed a lot to get to the essential.
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Hereshe goes : You started your career very young, at age 13. What push you toward photography?Long Thanh : I started to work in my uncle photo store to help out my family. We came from China and were very poor so I had to work for him. I've always like photography and was hoping to buy a camera but could not dream of finding the money. Luckily, my cousins would lend me their cameras so I could slowly learn how to play with them. I never imagine making a living with a camera; all I wanted was to take pictures.
H: You are extremely attached to b&w photography and still refuse to do anything else regardless of all the new development. What pushes you to resist to colour and digital photography?LT: All photographers learn their skills with black and white photography. It is the essence of photography : light and shadow. B&W manual processing allows a direct, almost organic contact with photography. It's very physical to measure the acid, bath the pictures in them, be present throughout all the steps... It's a bit like being present throughout a pregnancy... This is a much more sensual way of working. Digital is handy for journalists. But the problem with digital photography is that most people how uses the technology don't take the time to really look and understand light... they just click and fix it after if necessary.
And of course it's very sentimental for me. Am very attached to this traditional way of working. Am not against colour but it would never be my first choice. Unfortunately now, paper is more and more expensive. So god only knows how long i'll be able to continue...
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Next : Long Thanh favorite subject and themes. H.
