Warring Visions: Photography and Vietnam

Warring Visions: Photography and Vietnam
by Thy Phu (Author)

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Although it’s often observed that the Vietnam War was fought in pictures, the most iconic images were produced by the western press—images that usually shore up accounts of American experiences and perspectives. Largely missing from the voluminous histories of this war are photos by the Vietnamese, not to mention consideration of Vietnamese experiences. This talk broadens approaches to the visual mediation of the Vietnam conflict by exploring how the camera was deployed to serve ideological purposes not just by the western press, but also by other sides. Focusing on the contributions of Vietnamese photographers, I trace the connections and disconnections between these warring visions, and explain the role of photos in struggles to secure the moral resolve, political allegiance, and cultural memory of viewers.

In Warring Visions, Thy Phu explores photography from dispersed communities throughout Vietnam and the Vietnamese diaspora, both during and after the Vietnam War, to complicate narratives of conflict and memory. While the visual history of the Vietnam War has been dominated by American documentaries and war photography, Phu turns to photographs circulated by the Vietnamese themselves, capturing a range of subjects, occasions, and perspectives.

Phu's concept of warring visions refers to contrasts in the use of war photos in North Vietnam, which highlighted national liberation and aligned themselves with an international audience, and those in South Vietnam, which focused on family and everyday survival. Phu also uses warring visions to enlarge the category of war photography, a genre that usually consists of images illustrating the immediacy of combat and the spectacle of violence, pain, and wounded bodies. She pushes this genre beyond such definitions by analyzing pictures of family life, weddings, and other quotidian scenes of life during the war. Phu thus expands our understanding of how war is waged, experienced, and resolved.

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Includes University of Wisconsin virtual seminar from October 23, 2020 (ripped YouTube video):
https://workupload.com/file/LbPbFVCaYMA