VietNamNet Bridge – French artist Julie Vola’s exhibition “Vietnam in Cyanotype: Batch 1” will be held at Ke Quan,81b Xuan Dieu Street, Hanoi until October 8.

Julie Vola is currently working as the photo editor for Word Vietnam. She arrived in Hanoi 7 years ago in search of her own family’s past, after inheriting her grandfather’s personal photographs from his life in Hanoi. Since then she has always been inspired by the country and its people.

Born in the South of France in 1983, Julie earned a Masters degree in Photography from the École Nationale Superieure de la Photographie. 

She has since taught the subject for almost 10 years and recently at the London College of Fashion and Design in Hanoi. 

She will develop in the next few months a cyanotype workshop. She continues to search for the pulse of history in the landscape that surrounds her.

“This new collection is a selection of some of my favorite portraits of Vietnam and its people. They come from more than a half-decade exploring Vietnam through the lens of my camera, on assignment, as a traveler and as a resident of this beautiful country,” Vola said.

“For this collection, I choose to use a 19th century cyanotype printing technique. First developed by scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel, it was intended primarily for reproducing notes, diagrams and blueprints. These photos, in their monochrome format are, in a way, blueprints of Vietnam and its people; their simplicity and yet depth give a dreamy aspect to the prints.”

“I’ve always been intrigued by alternative, antique film processing and cameras. I believe they add a layer of poetry, one that extends beyond simply the content within the frame,” she said.

PV