Photographer Jean-Baptiste Huynh’s Message to Bem from Paris

Jean-Baptiste Huynh was born in France in 1966 to a French mother and a Vietnamese father. He taught himself photographic lighting and printing techniques, which he mastered to the point of developing a personal style.
“Dear Bem, Jean-Baptiste — Nice to what we exchanged through email. This is my latest works that I have done in Africa with the amazing “flower children” and incredible people I lived with. And I really want to invite you to Paris to see all these new works that I love, and I would love to see your works as well whenever you come, or I come to see you in Hue. So, let’s stay in touch. Big hugs. Big kisses. You are charming, young friend from Vietnam.”


Jean-Baptiste Huynh was born in France in 1966 to a French mother and a Vietnamese father. He taught himself photographic lighting and printing techniques, which he mastered to the point of developing a personal style. His pure and timeless photography is recognizable in widely varied subjects, including portraits, nudes, minerals, and plants, as well as spiritual symbols and emblematic masterpieces. Jean-Baptiste Huynh’s running themes include the human gaze, our self-image, interplaying light, a sense of timelessness, and an attempt to capture infinity.
Jean-Baptiste Huynh considers the staging of his installations – their scenography – along with the conception of his books, as integral parts of his artistic vision. He has personally authored fifteen books.
Villa Médicis Hors-Les-Murs bursary laureate, Jean-Baptiste Huynh has exhibited in major galleries and museums worldwide. In 2002, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie presented the exhibition Yeux along with a book of his portraits of major international photographers and painters. In 2006, the National School of Fine Arts in Paris devoted a retrospective to Jean-Baptiste Huynh, Le Regard à l’oeuvre, which brought together his studies of the human face in a variety of world cultures. Between 2006 and 2012, he compiled a study of light through six photographic projects: MIRRORS (2006), TWILIGHT (2007), FIRE (2008), MONOCHROME (2009), LOUVRE (2010) and BLIND (2011), all assembled in the book Lumièrealong with the personal exhibition Rémanence hosted by the Louvre.
In 2016, the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts in Paris approached Jean-Baptiste Huynh for a carte-blanche exhibition that finally opened in 2019. A retrospective of his work in Asia, the exhibition was developed with new photographs taken from the museum’s archives from 2016 through 2018, along with images from the REFLECTION series focused on the diversity of female faces in Asia.
The same year, Jean-Baptiste Huynh exhibited WOMAN, a project showcasing the universal, timeless beauty of the female face at the Galerie Lelong in Paris. This was accompanied by a series of interviews on the theme of “beauty” with leading figures from a variety of backgrounds. In 2019, the artist also showed his work at the Patrick Gutknecht Gallery in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow, Russia.
In 2020, Jean-Baptiste Huynh has been working on his latest exhibition and book project, examining the concept of aesthetics and ancestral rites in Kenyan tribes.
Jean-Baptiste Huynh’s work is represented by the Galerie Lelong (France), the Patrick Gutknecht Gallery (Switzerland), and the Camera Work Gallery (Germany).
You may also like

Director Nguyen Quang Dung’s Documentary TV Series “Ambrosia in all the Details” and Painter Boi Tran

Christie’s: Southeast Asian Pictures’ Letter to Boi Tran Art Gallery in 1999

Council of Vietnamese Phan Family’s Honorary Certificate for Painter Boi Tran’s Sempiternal Contribution to the Community

Emeritus University Professor Vinh Tuong’s Letter: “Madame Boi Tran’s Artistry and Brilliance Bequeathed to us a Respect and Precious Memory that Lasts for Good”

Ancient Mansions’ Rebirth

Budda Master, Sugata Thich Chon Huong and his Inscription to the Woman Intellectual Boi Tran

Vinh Phoi, a Pioneering Abstract Expressionist, a Loyalist to the Imperial Hue and His Handwritten Reference Letter to Boi Tran and the Art Gallery

Director of Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum Cao Trong Thiem and the Written Massage to Boi Tran

Mai Van Hien, Sketcher of the First Banknote for Vietnam and His Letter to Boi Tran and Boi Tran Art Gallery in 1998

Photographer Jean-Baptiste Huynh’s Message to Bem from Paris

Luu Cong Nhan: Endless Memoirs

Diep Minh Chau’s Drawings of Boi Tran and Minh Chau with His Inscriptions

Nguyen Trong Niet and Bui Xuan Phai’s Last Handwriting Before His Quietus in 1988

Truong Be: A Quest For The Absolute and His Handwriting to Boi Tran

“Nature and People from an Old Outlook” Exhibition, Invitation and a Handwritten Note of Viet Hai and Tran Luu Hau to Boi Tran

Dinh Cuong: “A Piece of Poetry to the Lady on Thien An Hill in the Cold Drizzle”

Le Ba Dang’s Handwritten Letter to Boi Tran in 1999

Epilogue by Trinh Cong Son on the Grand Opening of Boi Tran Art Gallery in 1995

Prologue by Buu Y on the Grand Opening of Boi Tran Art Gallery in 1995

Nguyen Trung’s Expression on Boi Tran’s Exhibition: I and the Call from My Within

Nguyen Trung’s Preamble on the Exhibition of Paintings: Hue in 1996

Words of Architect Ngo Manh Duc, Son of Le Thi Luu to Boi Tran and Her Work of Art

Harper’s Bazaar: A Great Hue Destination

Christie’s: Women in Art from the XVI to the XXI Century

Éternité Magazine: Cloud Landing Collection by Designer Tran Thien Khanh and Photographer Tran Dinh Thuc Doan

Royal Cuisine – Cultural Interview: The Hue To Go by KF Seetoh

Anne-Solenne Hatte and “La Cuisine De Bà” or “Tasting Vietnam”

“Incubating Culture in Vietnam and Hue’s Rebirth as Vietnam’s Center of Art & Heritage” Hosted by Harvard Kennedy School, Fulbright University Vietnam and Boi Tran Garden

Ravenel: Select Modern & Contemporary Art, Vietnamese Modern Art

General Secretary, Germany Minister of Digital Affairs and Transport Volker Wissing’s Letter to Artist Boi Tran

“A Perfect Evening of Companionship” with Skirball Cultural Center Founding President and CEO Uri D Herscher

Shanghai Pujiang Southeast Asia Culture and Art Exchange Center President Zhang Zhi Yong Celebrates Boi Tran’s Solo Exhibition: Le Rêve Qui Veille

Boi Tran: “Le Rêve Qui Veille” by Christie’s Senior Expert Jean-François Hubert

Fine Dining Deepened in Endless Conversation with Mr William Drea “Bro” Adams and Mr Joe Boulos

Largest Museum in Canada: Royal Ontario Museum and Letter to Painter Boi Tran

Cultural Exchange: Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung, Deputy Secretary (Asia-Pacific), Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr Ng Teck Hean and Painter Boi Tran

Christie’s: Se Souvenir Des Belles Choses – A Curated Collection of Vietnamese Art

Group Exhibition ”Chòn Chòn”: Hanoi and Hue Young Artists Co-Sponsored by Boi Tran Garden in 2015

Cultural Exchange: The Combination of Hue Royal Refined Music and Hue Culinary Culture

Heritage Magazine: Best of Both Worlds

Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown: Vivacious in Vietnam

A Fork in Asia’s Road: The Hue Home by John Krich

Thanh Nien News: Complete Transcendence

DestinAsian Magazine: Hungry for Hue

German Television Broadcaster ZDF Interview by Journalist Peter Kunz: Artist Boi Tran and the Gracefulness of Her Art, Cuisine and Architecture at Boi Tran Garden

“Thank you for opening your house to us but furthermore, your heart” – Gilbert Montagné

Travel+Leisure Magazine: Vietnamese Food – The Ultimate Food Guide

Boi Tran ‘Madonna’, the First Time Presented and Phenomenally Hammered at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2008

Luu Ly and Bui Xuan Phai Sketchbook: A True Sense of Nostalgia at Boi Tran Art Gallery

Cultural Exchange: Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum, The Peranakan Museum Founding Director Dr Kenson Kwok “Thank you for beautifully nourishing our bodies and souls” and the Singapore Home Affairs Delegation at Boi Tran Garden

Tran Ninh Ho’s “For the one I miss” and “A Lady and Lotus” by Boi Tran

Boi Tran, Ladies and Flowers by Nguyen Trong Tao

Asian Art News: Small and Miniature Paintings by the Masters at Minh Chau Art Gallery

Minh Chau Art Gallery’s Exhibition: Small and Miniature Paintings by the Masters
