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I would like to respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin nations and pay respect to their Elders past and present. 















  • Phuong (Lê Nguyên Phương or Phuong Nguyen Le or Phuong Le)



  • Born in Hà Nội,  grew up in Hồ Chí Minh City/Sài Gòn, VN 
  • Moved to Naarm in 2022
  • I work in photography, researching, publishing, and community engagement
  • I am interested in exploring the occupying space between documentary and art photography with projects that engage with my loved ones and surrounding communities 
  • I focus on themes of personal and collective identity in the aftermath of the American War in Viet Nam 
  • I hope to further expand my research and practice in collaboration with emerging artists, especially of BIPOC background
  • I really look forward to helping you and seeing your amazing works this semester!
                                                                          Image source: https://ditichlichsu-vanhoahanoi.com/2018/01/24/pho-hang-than        



























Nguyen Duy Tuan: Suddenly, It Hurts A Little (2020)

‘In recent years, whenever I went back to my hometown, I would always leave my house to go on long walks alone, every single night, and wouldn’t come back until I was very tired. I would do that to avoid my dad’s temper when he got drunk. Wandering around the empty village roads at night, I would lurk in the dark, capturing things encountered on the way. Occasionally when passing by a familiar scene, I would suddenly remember my childhood and how I was terrified of that same darkness, of the dancing lights, indiscernible figures, and giggles echoing through the night. Back then, I would run straight back home. Now, maybe not.’https://matca.vn/en/nguyen-duy-tuan-suddenly-it-hurts-a-little/

























Thành Phẩm (2022, first edition)





























































































































RMIT School of Art Graduate Exhibition


Objectifs Centre for Photography & Film, Singapore
Sunshine Public Projection, commissioned by Brimbank City Council



































Sunshine (2024), published by Tall Poppy Press, designed by Vanessa Le,  168 pages, edition of 200.
 On January 15th 2022, I moved to Sunshine, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne, where I rented out a bedroom in Mrs. Hoang Anh’s home. Sunshine is known for its vibrant Vietnamese community, the best bang-for-buck Banh Mi in Melbourne, and based on the criminal activity here, nicknames like “Scumshine” or “Stabshine”.

More often than not, Vietnamese diasporas in Australia live under a state of loss. After the American War ended, the Vietnamese Communist Party won against the South and reunified the nation. In opposition to this regime, millions of Vietnamese fled the country, most commonly through boats. With the influx of Vietnamese immigrants to Sunshine in the late 1970s, the suburb is now superimposed by the Vietnamese community to resemble a faux representation of their home nation, one they could not return to. Their lives on this foreign land that once aided in invading their homeland are re-lived through scenic photographs of Vietnam hung in dimly lit restaurants and burning incense as they pray to their ancestors for a better fortune.

Through browsing the local news, internet archives, and word-of-mouth, I discovered deconstructed stories without a beginning nor an end. Unlike its name, Sunshine slowly unravels its inter-generational tension of inner-community identity. I use photography not only to document Sunshine, but also confront my outsider status in Australia and create a dialogical space for unlearning my Communist perception of this diasporic community.


















How can I use photography to start exploring and engaging with a history/community that I was previously ignorant of? 
How can I express that I am in the process of learning and making, not claiming and asserting in regards to this body of work?
How can I present photographs of Vietnamese communities to the broader audiences who are largely unaware of the intergenerational and ideological conflicts between Vietnam and its diasporas? Am I expecting them to be informed of this context before approaching the project?
How can I create a safe space for the sharing of this work to audiences in Viet Nam, many of which I know would intensely oppose against this work?
What intersecting power structures emerge from my research in the making of this work? 








Studio sharing session at Studio 3năm, HCM City, VN

Book launch at Anh&Em Restaurant in Sunshine 

































































Installation at ‘Family Album: Reimagined Memories’ at Hillvale Gallery, curated by Yuzhen Cheng, 2024.