Cuong Do Manh : TWINS

The series Twins was made by Cuong Do Manh back in 2013 and once received special media attention. Four years have passed ever since but it is still a telling example among but a few documentary projects in Vietnam that actually have an outstanding subject matter and approach.Cuong first met Chau Xuan Huy and Chau Xuan Hung in 2010 in a charity field trip to Ha Tinh province. Three years later when still unsure about how to continue photography, he was introduced to the documentary genre by photographer Hai Thanh and Maika Elan in a talk. He decided to hunt for the clues leading to the whereabouts of this albino siblings in this flood-prone land and carried out his first personal series.

Vietnam – “Twins” is an intimate portrait of Huy and Hung – a pair of albino twin brothers who live in Ha Tinh province, in central Vietnam.

Born in 2002 into a poor family of five children in Ha Linh – Ha Tinh, they have to face many difficulties: natural, familial and social. Almost every year, Ha Linh – Ha Tinh suffer from harsh and devasting floods. Huy and Hung have three elder siblings who have since married and started their own families, leaving them to fend for themselves against daily difficulties. And finally, there is no special medical treatment for albinos.

 

In 2010, together with a charity organization, I came to Ha Tinh and met Huy and Hung. At that moment I knew that I had to do something about the Twins. After gaining their trust and consent from their family and school, I spent time together with the two, ate with them, slept together with them, amused them and played with them like a close friend. I soon became a part of the Twins’ family and it didn’t take them a long time to became a big part of my life too.

These photographs are a window to the world of Huy and Hung – what a special, wonderful and different view it is to my own.

 

 

Photography and written by – Cuong Do Manh

Related Posts

Lens Kumari – Nayantara Gurung Kakshapati

Nepal – BEING NEPALI in the New Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal Tharu. Chhetri. Danuwar. Gurung. Lohar. Newar. The Nepali people ...

Koji Takiguchi: “Sou” – Celebration of Death in the Family

Japan –  Published by Little Big Man Books, Japan, Photography feature – Koji Takiguchi‘s images document his wife and her ...

Zhang Xiao Coastline China

Zhang Xiao: Exploring the Coastline of China

China –  Photography feature – Zhang Xiao started his journey from 2009-2013 along the coastline of China. China has long ...

Cristina De Middel Nigeria

Cristina de Middel: ‘This Is What Hatred Did’ – The Nigerian Escapade

Nigeria –  In the 1960s, a five-year-old Nigerian child’s village was attacked by soldiers. His mother had left him home ...

Space Invader – Christian Caujolle

France – Emaho caught up with celebrated French curator and photographer Christian Caujolle to see the view from his rarefied ...

Boris Eldagsen: The Poems

Germany –  Boris Eldagsen‘s Photography explore the limits of what can be depicted. The ‘POEMS’ utilise the external reality, to ...

Andy Rocchelli: “Russian Interiors” – Intimate Portrait of Women in their Private Spaces

Italy –  Andy started to travel to Russia in 2010; there he spent a considerable amount of time working asa ...

Manik Katyal on Nicolo Degiorgis “Hidden Islam”

Italy – Winner of Author Book Award 2014 at the Rencontres d’Arles, self-published book ‘Hidden Islam’ by Fabrica graduate, Photography feature ...

Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin: SCARTI

United Kingdom – Ghetto, Broomberg and Chanarin’s first collaboration with Trolley, was published ten years ago. It saw the then creative ...