A Vietnamese photographer who is practicing contemporary photography is putting on an exhibition featuring images of those suffering during the Japanese occupation of Vietnam.

A photo of the Re/Cover project by Phan Quang.

The Japanese occupied Vietnam from 1940 until the end of World War II (1945).

The 40-year-old photographer Phan Quang started his photography project “Re/Cover” in 2011 to tell stories about families that have been separated by war.

In those families, Vietnamese women have been expecting to see their Japanese husbands back and Vietnamese people of Japanese descent have been waiting for recognition by their families in Japan.

Quang felt the urge to tell their stories in a way that ensures their private space but makes those sad yet beautiful stories emotional at the same time. When he travelled to Kyoto, Japan, he visited a facility producing traditional white veils.

He decided to use the veil for his art project. Having bought nine meters of Japanese white veil, he came back to Vietnam and persuaded the families in question to take part in his project.

The white veil, which is a symbol of happiness of newlyweds, is now used to cover the elderly women who have been waiting for their husbands to be back or mourning for those who have died in Japan. The cloth is also put on those women’s children and grandchildren.

Quang said he wants to keep the privacy of those people participating in the project and at the same time, add spiritual values to his photos.

The project consisting of 12 photos was displayed in Singapore in 2014, and New York in March 2016. It won the Sovereign Asian Art Prize in 2015.

Photos of Phan Quang had been showcased at many exhibitions in Singapore, France, the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and Denmark. They have also appeared in Forbes magazine and the New York Times.

Nine photos of the Re/Cover project will be put on display at Blanc Art Gallery, 57 D Tu Xuong Street, District 3, HCMC in one month starting from June 18.