240 international photographers group up in Vietnam

Xuan Hoai's "Brothers", which won FIAP Gold Medal in 2008.

The Congress will encompass 240 delegates from 43 countries and territories. Apart from official sessions, they will attend the 30th FIAP Monochrome Biennial and 30th FIAP Youth Biennial exhibitions at Vietnam Exhibition Centre of Art and Literature in Ha Noi.

The aim of the Congress is to develop and promote photographic knowledge on an artistic, educational and scientific level; to foster fraternal links and friendly relations among all member federations and to promote Vietnamese tourism and culture, confirmed Vu Quoc Khanh, president of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists (VAPA).

VAPA, the event organizer, will organize a trip to Ha Long Bay, Ninh Binh Province and Hanoi relics for international photographers.

Three major meetings will be held at Sofitel Plaza. In addition, two photo exhibitions will be held, including selected works by FIAP members (60 photos) at the Van Ho Exhibition Centre and 100 photos by Vietnamese artists, which won FIAP prizes, at Sofitel Plaza.

FIAP was founded by Belgian Van de Wijer in 1946 as an international federation with national associations of photography acting as affiliates. It counts more than 85 national associations and represents the interests of nearly 1 million individual photographers.

Since 1991, when Vietnam became a member, Vietnamese photographers have won many FIAP prizes. Around 300 Vietnamese photographers have joined this organization. Some 141 of them won FIAP titles. Late photographer Le Phuc is the only one who won the Honor FIAP title.

Five Vietnamese delegates at the upcoming FIAP Congress are photographers Vu Quoc Khanh and Chu Chi Thanh and three members of the VAPA Executive Board.

Photographer Chu Chi Thanh, former VAPA president, is praised for his contribution to bring this event to Hanoi. FIAP was also enthusiastic with this plan because Hanoi is about to celebrate its 1000^th anniversary.

According to Thanh, most of 240 delegates from 43 countries will bring their families to Vietnam. The funding for this event is raised from FIAP members, plus 2 billion dong ($105,000) from the state budget.

“During their time in Vietnam, these international photographers will surely take valuable photos. We will ask each photographer to contribute 3-5 photos to the organizing board to print into a book,” said VAPA president Vu Quoc Khanh.

It is not delicate to discuss FIAP at this moment!

Recently some newspapers noted that FIAP is an organization for amateur photographers, so its awards are not valuable.

VAPA President Khanh remarked: “It is very difficult to clearly evaluate this aspect. I read the criticism and also received feedback from photographers. Both sides are right, based on their own views. Personally, I would only say that FIAP has amateur competitions and competitions with valuable work.”

Senior photographer Chu Chi Thanh agreed with Khanh. He said: “This debate began two years ago. At that time, some said that FIAP prizes focus on art values, not press features, so they don’t have strong social influence. I think it is difficult to clearly distinguish between press and art photos.”

“However, I must emphasizes two points: organizing FIAP 30 Congress in Hanoi is a positive event for the celebration of Hanoi’s 1000^th birthday and it is not delicate to discuss this matter at this moment.