artLIVE – The ‘NẮNG’ exhibition, part of the Noirfotocontest 2025 framework, showcases 30 outstanding handcrafted black-and-white works, opening an in-depth dialogue on light through the diverse perspectives of the artists.
Photography, according to journalist and writer Ambrose Bierce, is ‘a picture painted by the sun without instruction in art’. This seemingly simple statement touches upon the core of photography: it is not the art of creating from nothing, but the art of recognition – recognizing the moment light touches life and causes the image to manifest itself.
In that sense, photographers do not “draw” the world. They listen to the light with their vision and intuition, waiting for the moment when reality speaks for itself. Light becomes the primordial material; the scenery is the visual surface; and photography, in itself, is the art of patience – perceiving in order to capture those golden moments in time.
From that spirit, the “NẮNG” (SUN) exhibition, part of the Noirfotocontest 2025 framework – the seventh season of the community project founded by Noirfoto Gallery and operated by AGAD – opens as a field of contemplation on light. Here, handcrafted black-and-white photography restores “sun” to its original position: both as a physical phenomenon and as an ideological material.
Returning to primordial light
Taking place from December 13 to December 21, 2025, at Noirfoto Gallery (131 Duong Van An, Binh Trung Ward, HCMC), “NẮNG” introduces 30 works selected from thousands of entries: 15 chosen by the Jury, 5 selected by Noirfoto Gallery, and 10 voted for by the public.
However, the identity of Noirfotocontest does not lie in numbers. What creates the enduring difference of the project throughout seven seasons is an unchanging principle: every exhibited work is finished using hand-printing techniques, from film negatives or hybrid digital files, under the direct supervision of visual artist Pham Tuan Ngoc.
In an era where images are created and spread with a single touch, the choice to return to craftsmanship is not nostalgia, but an aesthetic manifesto. Noirfotocontest does not chase instant “viral” themes; the topic may change each season, but the criteria honoring artistic quality, materials, and craftsmanship never shift.
As a gesture of long-term companionship with artists, the entire cost of hand-printing the 30 exhibited works this year is sponsored by artist Pham Tuan Ngoc. Thanks to this, the artworks are not merely “hung,” but are present with the true physical quality of photography: solemn, complete, and possessing an independent life.
“SUN” as a multilayered language
“Sun” was chosen as the theme not for its recognizability in daily life, but for its multilayered nature in visual language and symbolism.
On a physical level, sunlight creates contrast, depth, and structure; it is a tool to sculpt darkness, revealing form and spatial rhythm. On a symbolic level, sunlight carries many nuances: freedom, rebirth, moments of sudden awakening; sometimes it is the warmth of memory, other times the fragile radiance passing through life.
The thirty works in the exhibition meet in a common spirit: viewing “sun” as an agent that illuminates fragmented realities, the small but profound vibrations of humans amidst the contemporary world. There are frames using sunlight to depict loneliness amidst urban movement; shots capturing the peace of a slow morning; and places where light highlights the fragility of a fleeting interaction between people and space.
Among them are streaks of sunlight that pass quickly but touch deeply. Like “Dưới bóng một tuổi trẻ” (Under the Shadow of a Youth) by Vu Nhat Minh, which records a private moment of a young couple under an old tree: the boy takes the sun, leaving the shade for the girl to rest in. The distant viewpoint, through a tree trunk, makes the scene beautiful without being intrusive. No judgment, no interpretation, leaving only the feeling that, in that long streak of sunlight, youth is both brilliant and fragile.
At another emotional pole, “Untitled, Vung Tau, 2025” by Dang Cong Duc captures the moment a bird’s wing dissolves into a halo of light. Sunlight here is not a background, but part of the movement, separating light and dark, supporting the rhythm of flight, then softening in the blink of an eye. That beauty cannot be held, but leaves a lingering poignancy, like a whisper about freedom and things that are and will be departing.
The overall exhibition thus bears a polyphonic structure: abstract enough for viewers to see their own memories, but specific enough to retain the personal imprint of each author. “NẮNG” becomes a common field of perception, imposing no interpretation or dogma, opening a quiet dialogue between photography and human experience.
From academic criteria to personal imprint
On the critical level, curator Pham Thi Diep Giang outlined four selection criteria: composition, sunlight effects, depth of meaning transcending the visual moment, and artistic value.
She shared: “Sunlight seems very easy because it is what we see every day, but it is a challenge forcing photographers to transcend the ordinary way of looking. I look for works where light not only brightens the scene but transforms it – where light becomes a story, leading emotions and containing metaphors”.
Artist Ha Manh Thang emphasized the private element in how authors approached the theme: “Sunlight seems to be the endlessness of nature, but these are very private moments with one’s innermost vibrations”.
Meanwhile, painter Tran Dai Thang commented on the continuity of the exhibition: “These are not disjointed frames, but a consistent thematic thread. Sunlight is present in many shades: glaring, fragile, or interwoven with darkness, making the viewer feel as if they are stepping into the living space of the photograph itself”.
Sun as a journey of self – inquiry
For the artists in the Top 30, “NẮNG” is not just a visual assignment, but a journey of internal exploration. Photographer Lam Xuan Tung views sunlight as clarity after internal conflicts: “Sunlight is the dawn after a long night of contemplation. It comes when we accept and cherish even the dark spaces”.
In another direction, Duc Dang finds sunlight within the very shadows it leaves behind: “Through the black and white lens, I see sunlight as a short-lived but beautiful presence, helping the stillness and sentiments of the scenery become clearer”.
These confidences, placed alongside the assessments of experts, expand the spectrum of meaning for “NẮNG”: from technique and emotion to the community values that Noirfoto Gallery is persistently building.
An institution nurturing art photography
Noirfotocontest is designed on two parallel axes: democratic and academic. Public voting expands community access; a prestigious jury maintains professional standards. The bilingual English – Vietnamese structure and Instagram-based registration platform blur geographical barriers but do not trade off quality.
More importantly, Noirfotocontest does not stop at being a contest. It is a talent identification platform for Noirfoto Gallery’s Artist Nurturing Program – a program supporting artists in shaping their style, expanding their domestic and international presence, and connecting with the public and collectors through a standard, sustainable frame of reference.
Light continues to spread
The “NẮNG” exhibition will conclude with a satellite activity, the Photowalk “Birds in the City”, on the morning of December 21, 2025. It acts as an “outdoor classroom” where natural sunlight is the only light source, and the subject is birds amidst the urban landscape. On the same day, the closing ceremony will take place, marking the first 5-year journey (2020–2025) of Noirfotocontest.
“NẮNG” does not stop at displaying beautiful photographs. The exhibition reminds us that, in photography as in life, light is not always brilliant, but when we are patient enough to recognize it, the world will emerge with a different depth.
