His name is Vo Viet Duc, a photographer born in 1918 (Year of the Horse) in Thai Trach Ward, Imperial City, Hue. Fortunately, this 106-year-old man (or 107 according to the lunar calendar) still has a good memory, reads without glasses, and speaks clearly about what he has witnessed over more than a century. He lives with his grandchildren on Xuan 68 Street in the Citadel of Hue. Born at the start of the 20th century and living into the second decade of the 21st century, he is indeed someone who has "lived through two centuries."
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| An afternoon at the Ngo Mon Gate in 1949. Archival photo taken by Vo Viet Duc |
A man who has lived through two centuries
Vo Viet Duc's family originates from Thang Binh (Quang Nam). His father moved to the capital to serve as a cavalry soldier in the imperial army during the reign of Emperor Thanh Thai, married a woman from Hue, and settled in the Citadel, where his children were born. After completing elementary school at Paul Bert Primary School (now Phu Hoa Primary School) near the Thuong Tu gate, Duc had to quit school to work as a laborer. He worked in a printing house, operated typewriters, bound books, and even worked in lacquer workshops. In September 1945, he joined the Thuan Hoa Liberation Army and was assigned as a secretary in the office of Le Tu Dong, the Defense Commissioner of the Provisional Revolutionary People's Committee of Thua Thien Province and military envoy of Zone 4 in Hue. In that office, Duc also worked as a secretary for Hoang Anh, then Vice-chairman of the Provisional Revolutionary People's Committee of Thua Thien province.
Responding to the call for resistance in the South, by late September 1945, Vo Viet Duc had joined the Thuan Hoa Liberation Army on the southern front, fighting in Nha Trang. In early 1946, he returned to Hue and was assigned to guard President Tran Huu Duc of the Central Resistance Administration Committee. "I was his gạc-đờ-co, so wherever he went, I followed, traveling throughout the Central provinces, even to Ha Noi to welcome President Ho Chi Minh" (the French term "garde de corps" means bodyguard). That event took place in October 1946, when he accompanied President Tran Huu Duc for a two-day journey from Hue to Ha Noi to welcome President Ho Chi Minh back from the Fontainebleau Conference in France. Later, he was ordered to escort two senior officials to Vinh and Hue.
Those two officials were Cu Huy Can, then deputy minister of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Coalition Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and poet Xuan Dieu, then a delegate of the National Assembly 1st session. "That trip is unforgettable for me, as I accompanied two famous people and witnessed the tragic aftermath of the At Dau famine along the way from Ha Noi to Vinh. That journey made me realize I needed a camera," Mr Duc recalled. However, prior to that, in the summer of 1940, Duc had already participated in photographing Emperor Bao Dai as an assistant to photographer Ton That Dung.
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| Mr. Vo Viet Duc (second from the left, top row) with photographers from Hue in the days after 1975. Archival photo: Vo Viet Duc |
Photographing Emperor Bao Dai at the Kien Trung Pavilion
"That day, Ton That Dung called me to join him in the Imperial Citadel to photograph Emperor Bao Dai. Being a member of the royal family, Ton That Dung was summoned by the emperor to take photos. I carried a tripod about a meter and a half long. We entered through the Hoa Binh gate and went to the Ngu Tien Office building. There, a palace official led us to the Kien Trung Pavilion to photograph the emperor, the queen, and the princesses," Mr Duc recounted, unsure of the exact date but remembering it was a summer morning in 1940, likely around August. Emperor Bao Dai and the royal family were living at the Kien Trung Pavilion.
According to Mr Duc, the pavilion was a magnificent building, far more splendid than the An Dinh Palace (the private residence of Emperor Khai Dinh). The ground floor was a guest room, and the two photographers were brought upstairs to where the emperor and his family lived. "We used a Yashica camera from Japan, with Kodak film - eight individual frames. Ton That Dung was the main photographer, and I assisted him. Emperor Bao Dai was quite humorous, mixing French and Hue dialect. Queen Nam Phuong spoke little, only smiling, dressed very elegantly, and was extremely beautiful. I only glanced at them; I dared not look directly at the emperor and queen, nor did I dare to speak. Back then, as a commoner, no one would dare to be disrespectful," Mr Duc said.
After taking the photos, they returned to the darkroom to develop the film and print the photos. Since only black-and-white film was available, Dung had to hand-paint some of the best prints. At that time, Ton That Dung was renowned in Hue for his color-painting skills. A few days later, they delivered the photos to the Ngu Tien Office. They were relieved that none of the photos were poor quality, so they were not reprimanded.
Mr Duc recalled that they took many photos of the emperor and queen, including Crown Prince Bao Long and Princess Phuong Mai, mostly of the emperor and queen in their everyday clothes. Ton That Dung spoke fluent French, conversing with the emperor while taking the pictures. The emperor, in turn, chatted pleasantly but only about photography. He remarked that in France, taking so many pictures would be quite expensive. At the time, the political situation was still stable, so the emperor and queen remained cheerful.
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| Mr Vo Viet Duc – The photographer of Emperor Bao Dai and a witness to the emperor’s abdication |
Witnessing the abdication
"I remember that afternoon, August 30, 1945. A huge crowd gathered in front of Ngo Mon gate to witness Emperor Bao Dai’s abdication and the handover of the imperial seal and sword to the revolutionary government. I was in that crowd," Mr Duc recalled. Living on Rue de L’hopital in the Citadel, less than a kilometer from Ngo Mon gate, Duc arrived early. At that time, he was 27 years old, working as a printing house employee and typesetter. "The emperor, accompanied by court officials and the delegation from the revolutionary government, stood on Ngo Mon pavilion (also known as the Ngu Phung Pavilion, located atop Ngo Mon gate). I was standing near the gate but couldn’t see the emperor’s face clearly. Later, I learned that the emperor had uttered a famous line: 'I would rather be a citizen of an independent country than the emperor of a slave nation.' The crowd cheered!" Mr Duc recounted.
Mr Duc said that it was a great honor to witness such a significant event in a lifetime. Having the opportunity to photograph the emperor while he was still in power and later witness his abdication made Vo Viet Duc a rare individual with such a unique experience. At 106 years old, he remains a living witness to that historic event 79 years ago. Let’s hope he remains in good health to witness the 80th anniversary of Vietnam’s independence in September 2025.
Before becoming a photographer, Mr Vo Viet Duc was a skilled printing worker. He worked as a typesetter and corrector for major printing houses in Hue before 1954, such as Dac Lap, Vien De, and Nguyen Van Buu. He also worked as a corrector for the Tieng Dan (People’s Voice) newspaper, founded by Huynh Thuc Khang.
In 1947, he bought a Lumiere camera from France to make a living through photography and pursue his passion for the art of photography. He handled both the photography and the darkroom work himself, developing the film and making the prints. In 1955, he switched to working as a secretary at the Thua Thien provincial office, using his camera to fulfill his artistic dream of capturing beauty.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Vo Viet Duc was a prominent photographer in Hue, alongside other renowned photographers such as Nguyen Khoa Loi, Ton That Dung, Le Quang, Tran Nguyen Cao, Nguyen Huu Dinh, La Canh Luu, Ich Sanh, and Le Viem. In 1978, he was one of the founding members of the Binh Tri Thien Photography Association.