The Power of Portraiture: A Photojournalist’s Odyssey to Honor 2,000 Vietnamese Mothers

THE HANOI CHRONICLE — War inflicts immeasurable loss and suffering, and the agony of mothers who lose their children is perhaps the deepest wound of all.

During those dark years, young students across Vietnam set aside their books and pens, bid farewell to loved ones, and marched to the front lines. Many did not return.

Portrait of Colonel Tran Hong, a journalist and photographer. Photo: QDND

They left behind grieving mothers who spend their remaining years in silent wait, their hearts heavy with longing. Each passing day is etched with sorrow, a pain that time cannot heal.

Through his lens, Colonel Tran Hong, a journalist, and photographer, captures the spirit and sorrow of Vietnamese women. Over 2,000 photographs bear witness to the deep suffering of mothers who have given everything, reflected in their simplest form.

“They say that losing a child means losing the future,” shared Col. Tran Hong. “But in this nation, Vietnamese women gave their children to the country.”

A Lifelong Quest to Portrait Motherhood

Portraits of Vietnamese heroic mothers captured by Colonel Tran Hong. Photo: Jenna Duong

Born in Duc Tho District, Ha Tinh province, Tran Hong enlisted in the army at 19. His artistic journey pursued beauty in its many forms until he was deeply moved by his mother’s grief.

For Hong, portraying Vietnamese mothers is more than a hobby; it is a passion that ignites his soul.

“I strive to capture sorrow through my lens,” he recalls of photographing heroic mothers. “Yet, there’s a vast gap between reality and what the camera can convey.”

Hong discovered that portraying a mother’s inner emotions, especially those who lost their children in battle, presented a unique challenge.

“A mother’s joy can be fleeting,” he mused. “Behind it lies an enduring sadness, an immense void that cannot be filled.”

Tran Hong at the opening of his latest exhibition, “Memories and Legends,” at Ho Guom Cultural Information Center, Hanoi.

The passion for seeking and portraying heroic Vietnamese mothers came naturally to this photojournalist. After leaving the battlefield in 1969, Colonel Hong studied journalism at the Central School of Propaganda and Education (now the Academy of Journalism and Communication), later working for the Vietnam People’s Army Newspaper.

Portraying Pain and Resilience

According to Tran Hong, each heroic mother he encountered had a unique background and life story. Yet, they shared an unspoken truth: the extraordinary endurance and unimaginable pain of losing a child. “It’s a grief beyond words,” he expressed. “No mother wants her child to die to be called a ‘hero.'”

Colonel Tran Hong’s photographs of heroic Vietnamese mothers are not just his legacy but also the nation’s sacred treasures. They depict the raw pain of war, a reminder of a nation born from conflict. Countless young soldiers sacrificed their youth and lives for their country. The enduring mothers who remained were the embodiment of resilience.

One of Tran Hong’s most impactful photos is that of heroic mother Nguyen Thi Thu, born in 1904, in Quang Nam province.

Vietnamese Heroic Mother, Nguyen Thi Thu. Photo: Tran Hong

The image captures Mother Thu sitting before a bamboo tray with nine empty bowls and chopsticks around an incense burner. On her bed lies a portrait of her youngest son, awaiting a family reunion that may never come.

Mother Thu’s family endured the loss of 12 martyrs, including nine sons, two maternal grandchildren, and a son-in-law. She bore the grief of having the highest number of descendants who perished in the nearly 30-year wars against French colonialists and American imperialists.

Colonel Hong recalled an unforgettable encounter with heroic mother Nguyen Thi Khanh in Kien Giang province. “As I arrived in my uniform, she exclaimed, ‘Oh! My child is back…’ and we both wept,” he shared. “I couldn’t take a photo that day; I simply greeted her and left.”

The portraits of Heroic Vietnamese Mothers evoke deep emotions.

“On my fourth visit, I approached quietly. She sat by a bronze pot, a sad cat by her side,” he continued. “I wished for one of her seven children to return so that her rice pot would be bigger, and her tray wouldn’t hold just a solitary pair of chopsticks and bowl…”

As time passed, these mothers’ youth faded, consumed by the endless wait for their children. Their grief went unspoken, but the sight of a military uniform ignited a fleeting hope, as if their children had come home.

This profound sorrow, captured by journalist Tran Hong, is embedded in each portrait, silently conveying the inner struggle of these resilient mothers.

Viewing these photos, one cannot help but feel the weight of their enduring pain. Hong’s photographs speak to the hearts of these mothers, bearing witness to their silent sacrifice. This, he believes, is the true measure of his success as a photographer.

The public recently had the opportunity to view 50 precious photos of heroic Vietnamese mothers taken by Tran Hong at the “Memories and Legends” exhibition, held at the Ho Guom Cultural Information Center in Hanoi until May 25. These powerful images, captured over nearly five decades (1976-2020), showcase the colonel’s journey as a journalist, photographer, and former soldier of Battalion 2, Group 559, Truong Son Corps.

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