(VOVworld) – Journalist Tran Hong can’t hide his emotions whenever he talks about his photo exhibition “Portraits of mothers” held 17 years ago. Mothers, especially heroic mothers, have always attracted and inspired Tran Hong to take great pictures. Tran Hong has traveled across Vietnam in pursuit of his passion for photos of heroic Vietnamese mothers. Lan Anh reports:

Tran Hong’s journalistic career began when the American war was at its height. A young and enthusiastic journalist, Tran Hong was able to take many photos of and write articles about the latest developments of the war, which were posted regularly in popular newspapers like the People’s Army Newspaper and Vietnam Pictorial. Hong said: "Working as a journalist for the People’s Army Newspaper enabled me to learn of the losses and suffering of people at the front and at home. In addition to fulfilling the tasks assigned by the newspaper, I spent one third of my time taking photos of mothers, who have remained a source of inspiration for me until today."

Hong says through his pictures he wants to preserve both the emotions expressed on the mothers’ faces and their virtues. Every mother he meets gives him a feeling of being protected, as if she were his mother. For him, all Vietnamese mothers are heroes. Hong elaborated: "When I lived in Ly Nam De street in 1968, I was moved looking at a grandmother tenderly taking her grandchild to school everyday. Another time was when I returned to my hometown, my 92-year-old mother helped me take a bath and wash my hair as if I was a small child. I saw happiness shining in her face while she was doing this. This reminded me of millions of comrades whose mothers suffered terribly when they did not return home from the war. My mother’s eyes and the grandmother living near my home stirred a passion in me to discover the inner strength of Vietnamese mothers."

Journalist Tran Hong and Vietnamese heroic mother Nguyen Thi Thu. (Photo: internet)

Hong’s desire to fully understand the inner strength of Vietnamese mothers, notably those whose children died during the war for national liberation motivated him to open an exhibition entitled “portraits of mothers” in 1995. Hong told VOV: "An American journalist told me that it was their mothers that gave our communist soldiers the power to defeat their enemies. His words seem reasonable because all soldiers, especially when facing death; want their mothers to be proud of them. Mothers were the driving force for our victory."

Journalist Hong has travelled across the country to capture photos of many great mothers. His collection of 2000 portraits of mothers tells 2000 moving stories. One of the most touching is the story of mother Nguyễn Thị Khánh from the southern province of Kien Giang. Hong shared his story of mother Khanh: "Mother Khanh had 7 sons, all of whom went to the battlefield and never came back. I met her for the first time when she was sitting in a corner of a big charity house built by the authorities, enjoying a simple meal. The moment I entered the house in my uniform, she sprang up and rushed to the door, thinking one of her sons had managed to return. We were so emotional that we held each other and burst into tears. I couldn’t take a photo of her until my fourth visit, and now it remains one of my favorites."

Hong also photographed mother Thứ, who has become a legendary symbol of patriotism and sacrifice. Mother Thu’s husband, her 9 children, a son-in-law, and 2 grandchildren fell during the two liberation wars against the French and the Americans. Tran Hong’s portrait of Mother Thu revealing her strong spirit and hope for her loved ones’ return has touched many hearts: "I visited mother Thu with writer Lê Văn Dũng when she was sitting and waiting for her loved ones to come home. She said at least one of them would return. She passed away at the age of 107."

Hong’s photos of mothers, gathered in a compilation called “Portraits of Mothers”, were published by the People’s Army Publishing House in 1997 and recognized as the best work of 1998 by the Vietnamese Association of Photographic Artists. Hong says his greatest happiness is being welcomed and loved by heroic Vietnamese mothers like a real son.