MAJOR RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION • HANOI PHOTO BIENNALE 2025
EXHIBITION DESCRIPTION
Catherine Karnow’s attachment to Vietnam, and her 25-year history of photographing the country’s transforming society and landscape, form a visual diary of how she entered this land of enigma and discovered its twists and turns at every intersection of life.
Her photographs reveal a poignant and emotional journey as she followed in the footsteps of her esteemed father, Stanley Karnow, the renowned journalist and author of the seminal book and documentary Vietnam: A History.
Presented in Hanoi in November–December 2025, this retrospective offers an evocative chronicle of Vietnam’s transformation from 1990 through 2015.
Structured into distinct periods—from the somber early 1990s and the era of General Võ Nguyên Giáp, through Đổi Mới, Agent Orange and Amerasians, to the New Vietnam of the early 2000s—the exhibition culminates in a final section of Timeless images.
It brings together photographs revealing the most profound years of change in Vietnam’s modern history, alongside Catherine’s deeply personal stories of the people she met—stories of friendship and fate, what the Vietnamese call “gặp duyên”: it was meant to be.
The exhibition also presents her more recent work—images of personal and spiritual reflection, born of loss and love, of serene and familiar places returned to over years, where beauty rises from hardship and stillness from time; where friendship, joy, and meditative simplicity now define her Vietnam.
TESTIMONIAL
“Your Vietnam work explodes. It possesses a fierceness. Your excitement and pure joy, your study of Vietnamese history and culture and language, your education, your passionate nature with your complete control and mastery of the camera all come together at one time.”
COLLECTING THE WORK
The exhibition features museum-grade archival pigment prints, each in a limited edition, signed and numbered by the artist and accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. Collectors acquire not only a fine art print but also a lasting visual record of Vietnam’s modern history—an archive culturally resonant for Vietnamese audiences and globally relevant.
EXHIBITION EVENTS
ARTIST PRESENTATIONS | Metropole Hotel, Hanoi
Vietnam Documenting a Changing Country · 1990–2015, Part One: The Enigma of Destiny
Covering the early years through the rise of the New Vietnam, this presentation wove together stories of chance encounters and remarkable reunions that shaped Karnow’s visual diary.
Vietnam Documenting a Changing Country · 1990–2015, Part Two: Love and Connection
Catherine shared personal stories behind the people she photographed—from her friendship with General Võ Nguyên Giáp and his family to the legacies of Amerasians and Agent Orange victims—culminating in a story of profound connection with a woman she met on a train.
FULL-DAY PHOTO WORKSHOP
Held during the exhibition, this immersive workshop began with an educational presentation of Catherine’s work, followed by guided shooting on location, group discussion, continued fieldwork, and a concluding critique of participants’ photographs.
PRIVATE PORTFOLIO CONSULTATIONS
Open to photographers at all levels—from smartphone users to experienced professionals—these sessions focused on deeper understanding, visual clarity, and strengthening photographic voice.
REFLECTIONS
“…a beautiful exhibition about a remarkable person. Catherine’s relationship with Việt Nam runs far deeper than photography – it’s a love story between artist and place, built on empathy, presence, and time. Her images are more than records of change; they feel like acts of connection. Few photographers manage to weave humanity, history, and personal truth together so seamlessly. The decades she has spent show the world not only what Việt Nam looks like, but how it feels – and in doing so, she has given something back that words rarely can. Her images are a moving tribute, and reflect both her craft and her heart, and that carries through to wherever she points her lens in the world.” — Paul Indigo, photographer and writer, 2025
EXHIBITION PRESS & INTERVIEWS
Catherine Karnow’s exhibition Vietnam 25 Years: Documenting a Changing Country · 1990–2015 received extensive coverage across Vietnam’s most influential national media and international platforms, reaching audiences of millions in Vietnam and throughout the global Vietnamese diaspora.
• Vietcetera — one of Vietnam’s leading contemporary culture platforms — published a feature examining Karnow’s decades-long photographic relationship with Vietnam and the country’s transformation through reform, legacy, and modernization.
• Travellive Magazine, a widely distributed international culture and lifestyle publication, presented a major article centered on Karnow’s rare friendship with General Võ Nguyên Giáp and her exceptional access to historically significant moments.
• Vietnam Today (VTV4) — Vietnam’s national television channel serving both domestic and overseas Vietnamese audiences — aired an in-depth interview broadcast nationwide and across the global diaspora, exploring how Karnow’s work transforms personal encounters into collective memory.
• VOV (Voice of Vietnam) — the country’s national radio broadcaster — featured the exhibition for its cultural importance and historical scope.
• Additional coverage in Viet Nam News (Vietnam’s leading English-language newspaper), Báo Pháp Luật, Thế Giới & Việt Nam, Phụ Nữ Việt Nam, An Ninh Thủ Đô, and Hanoi Radio & Television further positioned the exhibition as a major cultural event, emphasizing its emotional depth, historical resonance, and rare long-term perspective on Vietnam’s modern history.
PAST EXHIBITIONS
Catherine’s retrospective: Vietnam 25 Years Documenting a Changing Country opened April 2015, at the Art Vietnam gallery in Hanoi, becoming the most visited exhibition in the gallery’s history.