Michael Nguyen has been living in Munich since 2007 and has dedicated himself entirely to art again since 2018. He is an artist, not a photographer but more a photographic poet or something he himself could not define. He moves away from the mainstream, at the same time blurs genres. Most of the time, he focuses on small, ordinary things but through the subjective lens, give them new perspectives, a new soul. Michael Nguyen’s photography is the art of showing more than you can see. Making visible – worshipping the invisible, he walks with the third eye of a wanderer through the visual adventure of life.
How and when did you become interested in photography?
One of my main themes of work when I worked as journalist in the second half of the 1990s in the field of photography was “Greece”. In close cooperation with Dr. Matthias Harder (today director of the Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin) I created the basis for the understanding of the photographs by Herbert List and Walter Hege and was in charge of the direction, editing, and publishing of Dr.Harder’s subsequent articles.
Is there any artist/photographer who inspired your art?
Yes, Man Ray, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Dorothea Lange, André Kertész
Why do you work in black and white rather than colour?
Life is full of colors. – Yes, many of my photos don’t live through color, just black and white and everything in between, with I concentrating on the form, the lines and the mood on the streets, the cityscapes or indoors or even on people’s emotions. Pictures about light and darkness in life with all its nuances and an expressive implementation in greyscales and sometimes with a subtle blue or brown toning.
How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph/series of photographs?
In fact, I need a lot of time to work on my work. The most important part of my work is of course my eyes and my ability to perceive things. I work with very simple devices, a Sony RX100, a Sony Alpha 7 II and a smartphone, a Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro. Some projects are created during my numerous travels, spontaneously and without planning, – others require a lot of preparation. I visit the places very often, studying the surroundings and the light until I decide at which hour I take photographs at that place. Before that I decide3 in which format the pictures should be published later. Often it is the square format because I think that most of my photographs are best shown in this format. Depending on the project, digital post-processing can take a long time.
Where is your photography going? What projects would you like to accomplish?
My biggest wish is to make a reportage about the cities and life in the metropolises Saigon and Hanoi. Hopefully it will be possible.
Website: www.nguyensminiaturen.de
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
© Michael Nguyen
