Featured Artist Robert Dodge

Artist Robert Dodge presents a dramatic series of photographs showing Vietnam’s evolution over the past forty years. View more of his work by visiting his website.

 

 

Near the end of a 2005 trip to Vietnam, I found myself looking at 1960-70s era news magazine spreads with big, captivating photos. These original pages from Life, Look and the Saturday Evening Post chronicled the Vietnam War. They hung in multiple display cases at the War Remembrance Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.

 

 

Seeing the big spreads of dramatic news photos sparked an epiphany—one that would shape my path as an artist for years to come.

 

 

Even though the magazine news features were about forty years old, I could remember having seen them during high school. In fact, news coverage of the war and the anti-war movement had galvanized my desire to be a journalist.

 

 

And now, four decades later, they were reaching out with an important new inspiration. My one-off vacation trip would be the first of many visits to work on a lengthy project that would become my first photography book: Vietnam 40 Years Later.

 

 

My portfolio of project images is often said to solidly stand with one foot in the world of documentary and the other firmly planted in the realm of fine art.

 

 

However, even if you don’t categorize the work, I believe it achieves its purpose. It shows viewers what has happened to this Southeast Asian country since the war ended four decades ago, through a collection of fine art photographs.

 

 

The images have won recognition in photo contests and ten prints were acquired by the Library of Congress for their collection. Vietnam 40 Years Later was published by Damiani Editore of Bologna, Italy, one of the world’s leading publishers of art books.

 

 

Over the years, I have taken up other projects, as I believe an artist should always try to grow. Nevertheless, Vietnam remains a key interest. From time-to-time I update my portfolio, thinking of it as being a living project. Last year, I traveled to the country’s central highlands where I photographed the coffee bean harvest. And in 2020, I will spend much of my time shooting in Asia and plan to visit Vietnam regularly.

 

 

Today, I am most intrigued by images that contrast the old Vietnam, or ancient Asia, with the latest aspirations of its people determined to be part of the global economy.

 

 

Indeed, Vietnam continues to be a rapidly changing country. It is growing to encompass tourism, light manufacturing, apparel/fashion and real estate investment. This renaissance from the shackles of failed communism promises to keep me coming back for many years.

 

Artist Robert Dodge invites you to follow him on Facebook, Instagram and the website for his book: Vietnam 40 Years Later.

 

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