VietNamNet Bridge – More than 100 photographs taken by 24 Vietnamese overseas students are on display in an exhibition entitled Chase Ha Noi 2011 at the Viet Arts Centre.

Art imitates life: Visitors view photographs on daily life in Ha Noi at an exhibition in the Viet Arts Centre. (Photo: VNS)

"Discovering these photos online for the first time, I was so impressed by them that I and my friend Truong Ngoc Ha Linh invited the students to join us in revealing a ‘local', but still overseas view of Ha Noi and its people," co-organiser Ton Nu Thuy Anh, who studies in Canada, said.

In a photo entitled Pray for Japan, Le Phuong Tan captured an image of a crane, thought to represent the wishes of Japanese people.

"Instead of using paper, I captured my crane using clear and bright acetate sheets, which to me, resemble people's most pure wishes," Tan explained.

In Only We Know the Secret, taken by Nguyen Nhat Linh, two students hold a picture of heart.

"Some of the photographs express a lot of humanity. One shows loneliness of an elderly woman sitting by a cooking fire, another describes the down-time of xe om or a taxi motorbike driver. They all made a deep impression on me," said Hanoian teacher Pham Trung Hieu.

During the opening ceremony, a photograph book with comments by Professor Ngo Bao Chau, who received Fields Medal at the International Congress of Mathematicians in August 2010, was auctioned off. All proceeds will be donated to a centre for disabled children in northern province of Bac Giang.

Chau's daughter Ngo Thanh Hien also takes part in the exhibition with three photographs taken during her summer camp for overseas students in Viet Nam. "I wanted to show my friends what I saw and experienced when I came back to Viet Nam. The event also gave me a good opportunity to meet Vietnamese and determine how we differ," she said.

The exhibition is set to run until tomorrow at the centre on 42 Yet Kieu, Ha Noi.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News