“Save Our Seas” photo expo tells sad story of plastic pollution in Vietnam

Photographer Nguyen Viet Hung traveled more than 7,000 kilometers on his motorbike crossing 28 coastal provinces and cities along Vietnamese coast to picture daily life, with a focus on plastic pollution.
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Photographer Nguyen Viet Hung traveled more than 7,000 kilometers on his motorbike crossing 28 coastal provinces and cities along Vietnamese coast to picture daily life, with a focus on plastic pollution.

Audiences have a chance from now to June 9 to watch over 100 photographs being on display with the theme “Save Our Seas” at 29 Hang Bai street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi, depicting the saddening plastic pollution across Vietnam.

Carrying the message “Only action bring changes”, the photography exhibition aims to raise the people’s awareness of plastic pollution, which has become a pandemic and thorny headache not only in Vietnam but also throughout the world.

The author, photographer Nguyen Viet Hung, aka Lekima Hung, traveled more than 7,000 kilometers on his motorbike crossing 28 coastal provinces and cities along Vietnamese coast to picture daily life, with a focus on plastic pollution.

Plastic waste is now a long-standing issue in Vietnam. Having over 3,000km of coastline, Vietnam discharges from 0.28 to 0.73 million tons of plastic waste annually through 112 estuaries, making Vietnam one of the top five countries contributing to the ocean plastic population. 80% of plastic waste is found in the oceans and each Vietnamese person consumes 41 kilograms of plastic in a year.

Speaking at the opening of the expo, Caitlin Wiesen, resident representative of UNDP in Vietnam, said the expo is very timely and important as we celebrate the World Environment Day on June 5 and World Oceans Day on June 8.

“UNDP would like to use this occasion as a wakeup call to everyone, from citizens, businesses, and authorities, that urgent practical actions must be taken to fight against pollution in our oceans – a defining challenge of our time,” said Wiesen, calling for no use of single-use plastics and shift to environmental-friendly products.

“On my 7,000km journey across the country, my camera has captured places filled with rubbish. The story of garbage I tell you by my photos might not be a romantic one, but it is the most honest story and I believe that it is useful because everyone shall see themselves in it,” said Lekima Hung.