Artist of the Day, January 28, 2021: Réhahn, a French-born, Vietnamese photographer (#1192)

 Réhahn, (1979) born in Normandy, France, is a photographer based in Hoi An, Vietnam. Known as the photographer that “captures souls”, he is recognized for his portraits of Vietnam, Cuba, Malaysia and India, and for his cultural preservation work.

In 2011, he launched The Precious Heritage project with the goal of increasing recognition of Vietnam's diverse tribes through stories examples of their craftsmanship, and large scale portraits of each group in their traditional clothing. The project explores the histories as well as the changing futures of the tribes as globalisation and development alter their homelands and subsequently their traditions.

On January 1st 2017, Réhahn opened the Precious Heritage Art Gallery Museum with the goal of creating a single place to preserve the artifacts and costumes he’d been given by the chiefs of many tribes as well as to share the portraits, stories and musical traditions of the ethnic groups.

Réhahn completed his primary mission of meeting all 54 officially recognized ethnic groups in September 2019 and continues his research to discover the numerous subgroups that are spread throughout the country.

In 2007, the artist travelled to Vietnam for the first time on a humanitarian mission with the French NGO Les Enfants du Vietnam. He explored the country and its culture and captured more than 50,000 photographs. In 2011, after several more trips, he decided to move to Vietnam and settled in the UNESCO Heritage town of Hoi An. It was there that he captured "Hidden Smile",  the photograph of Madame Xong, captain of a small tourist riverboat, which has since been published in more than 100 articles worldwide. In 2014, he chose this photograph for the cover of his first book, “Vietnam, Mosaic of Contrasts”, a collection of 150 photographs depicting the diversity of the country. A bestseller in Vietnam, the book is now sold in 29 countries.

The photographer’s work became known in France when the French travel TV program Échappées Belles (France 5), featured him in a documentary about Vietnam on June 15th, 2016.

Following the success of his first book, Réhahn published “Vietnam, Mosaic of Contrasts, Volume II” in 2015 and “Vietnam, Mosaic of Contrasts, Volume III” in 2020. In addition to this series, he released two coffee table size editions - “The Collection, 10 Years of Photography” (2018) and “100 Iconic Portraits” (2019)-  to showcase his photographic work in Cuba, Malaysia, South and Centra America, and the Indian subcontinent in addition to Vietnam.

In December 2014, Réhahn was ranked 4th of the top 10 best travel photographers in the world by the website boredpanda.com. This article was translated into more than 20 languages.

January 2016, he was ranked the second most popular French photographer on the internet by French website lense.fr.

March 2018, the artist was honored during an official ceremony to commemorate 45 years of diplomatic relations between France and Vietnam when Vietnam’s Secretary of the Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, who has since become President of Vietnam, presented French President Emmanuel Macron with a limited edition copy of the portrait “Hidden Smile.”

In 2013, while travelling to meet the tribes of northern Vietnam, Réhahn witnessed not only the diversity and the rich culture of these groups but also the fragility of their heritage. Traditional costumes, dialects, rites and ancestral knowledge are fading or being replaced by other methods as the country’s development increases. Réhahn started to collect traditional costumes generally offered by the chief of the village themselves in order to preserve and present their culture.

On 1 January 2017, he opened the Precious Heritage Art Gallery Museum. Created to foster intellectual curiosity and open the doors to understanding and communication with the diverse ethnicities present in Vietnam, the museum attracts both tourists and locals. Within 500 m2, this cultural art space showcases more than 200 photographs of members from each group in their traditional dress. Displayed alongside the photographs are more than 65 authentic tribal costumes, some of them were given by the village chief as a means of preservation since many of these garments are no longer being made. Each ethnic group is presented with factual information and the stories of Réhahn’s encounter with the tribe. The texts are available in English, French and Vietnamese.

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Réhahn

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Iconic Photograph Collection"

From the "Lifestyle of Vietnam Collection"

From the "Lifestyle of Vietnam Collection"

From the "Lifestyle of Vietnam Collection"

From the "Lifestyle of Vietnam Collection"

From the "Portraits of Varanasi Collection"

From the "Portraits of Varanasi Collection"

From the "Ageless Beauty Collection"

From the "Ageless Beauty Collection"

From the "Ageless Beauty Collection"

From the "Artisanal Tradition Handicraft Collection"

From the "Artisanal Tradition Handicraft Collection"

From the "Children in Vietnam Collection"

From the "Children in Vietnam Collection"

From the "Children in Vietnam Collection"

From the "Cuba Collection"

From the "Cuba Collection"

From the "Cuba Collection"

From the "Cuba Collection"

From the "Cuba Collection"

From the "Ethnic Vietnam Collection"

From the "Cuba Collection"

From the "Cuba Collection"