Phu Khanh Bui

Viet Nam | B. 1987
“Vietnam is extremely beautiful; it has a unique culture and traditions, a heroic history and a friendly people.” The definition comes from Khánh Bùi Phú, a freelance photographer committed to presenting his country's natural, cultural and human heritage.
It is more than a passion. Through photography, Khánh Bùi Phú – who was born and lives in Da Lat, city in the province of Lam Dong – is committed to protect a legacy that is as abundant (in fact, of extraordinary beauty) as delicate.
In his work, reality seems like a creation of dream and art, almost too perfect. Yet what is shown exists. And it deserves this rare look.
Khánh Bùi Phú is doubly represented in the React! exhibition, with "In the First Spring" and "Checking Fishing Nets" (Honorable Mention IN COLORS PROJECT 21-22), two photographs from the project "Ancient craft of nomadic fishing in Vietnamese rivers and lakes".
Photo by Phú Khánh Bùi
INTERVIEW
FEELING VIETNAM
How was your passion for photography born?
In 2015, while exploring a national biosphere reserve, a lake, in support of a nature conservation movement, I realized how beautiful, majestic and abundant the natural world is. The aquatic environment, the forest, and the people, the local communities, form an ecosystem in harmony, they are elements in an intimate symbiosis.
At that moment, I thought it would be interesting to register and share all this beauty. This inspired me to study photography.
Besides, I was born and raised in a country with a long history full of heroes, a unique culture. Through photography, I also try to convey information about cultural tourism in Vietnam. The intention is to pass on to everyone a unique message about the culture, life, people and landscape of my country.
From your experience as a photographer, what moves you the most?
My country has come out of a war, out of poverty, and step by step it is developing. The State has done a lot to improve people's standard of living, but, as in any society, there will always be rich and poor. I have traveled to many places in my country, and the vulnerability never fails to move.
On one trip I was moved by the story of an elderly woman who worked hard to raise five children and try to give them a better life, a good job. Instead, the sons could not take care of the mother, feed her, so she, already at an advanced age, still had to catch shrimp and crabs in rivers and lakes and cultivate rice and corn to survive.
I gave her some money, even though I had little in my pocket for my long trip. It was the right thing to do. In the following days, I slept badly, I felt a great sadness. And I remembered my parents. Even today, as I share this memory, I am moved.
Is there any information about your work that you want to share?
[smiles] I have a long project going on, I am about 70% of the way there. The photographs selected for the IN COLORS PROJECT by Lumicroma are part of that project, which I have been working on for more than four years. It is called "Ancient craft of nomadic fishing in Vietnamese rivers and lakes".
I should have finished it by now, but the pandemic has made it really hard to do, financially speaking. It is almost laughable, but the truth is that I am currently struggling financially to continue my projects...
CREDENTIALS
Second award (Silver medal): The Independent Photo Award - Emerging Talent Award
2021
Winner (Gold medal), Gump Photo contest, Hong Kong
Winner (Gold medal), Shoot The Frame, September international competition
Winner (Gold medal), UNPUBLISHED PHOTO, searching for new talents and new art forms around the world by the Musec Lugano Cultural Museum (Switzerland) and the 29 Arts In Progress Gallery, Italy
Second award (Silver medal): Highly Commended badge awarded by Siena Award
Second award (Silver medal): ND Photo Awards (Travel/Culture);
Second award (Silver medal): RPS - The Royal Photographic Society in IGPOTY photo contest - International Garden Photographer of the Year, UK;
2018
Winner (Gold medal), Ikei Photo contest, Spain
In Colors Project – REACT! by Lumicroma, Portugal
Musec Museo Lugano Cultural Museum, Switzerland
Related Exhibitions

IN COLORS PROJECT | REACT!
The broadness ... Ler Mais
The broadness to which the theme is open is represented in this set of 50 artworks by photographers from 22 nationalities. React! to what, from what perspective? The possibility of endless interpretations is mirrored in an exhibition in which the reaction is as much in the photographed "scene" itself as in the impression of the person who photographed it, and also, and always, in the eye of the person who appreciates the photograph.
In this realm, there is the image of time and place, of many places and many qualities of time. There is the beauty of moments, spaces, cultures and traditions. There is a whole scale of emotions. There is the poetry of landscapes and the destruction wrought by war. There is fantasy in improbable scenarios. There are global concerns, personal instances. Sometimes the weight of existence; sometimes the lightness of laughter in the face of death.
There remains, still, the certainty of a kaleidoscopic world, in permanent change, so that stories repeat themselves. Because man repeats himself. The continuity of life is also maintained. It is in the faces of many. It is in the colors. It is in the light of black and white. It is in the instinct. In the will. In what is lost, in what is conquered. Ler Menos