My interest in "photo films", merging Asian fashion and storytelling based on Asian history and legends, has continued unabated despite the downtime (also known as 'isolation') forced upon us all by the Covid19 pandemic. I had made travel plans to spend two weeks or so in Tokyo in early January, cancelled them in favor of Taipei a couple of weeks later...only to cancel them a few days later.
I haven't come across similar 'photo films' yet, but I was recently directed to the work of the Vietnamese visual artist Dzung Yoko (real name is Trần Hoàng Dũng), and I was stunned by his photography which was made into the aesthetically delicate Miss Saigon short video above by The Red Team based in Hanoi.
The very short video is an advert for Miss Saigon, a perfume bottled in the shape of a Vietnamese woman wearing the traditional Ao dai and a non la, the eponymous conical leaf hat.
Trần Hoàng Dũng is considered to be one of Vietnam’s top visual artists. He graduated from University of Architecture in 1998, and has been known as one of the leading visual creators in Vietnam with award-winning music album cover designs for the country’s top artists. He has held the position of Creative Director of international fashion titles in Vietnam such as ELLE and L’OFFICIEL magazines.
