Hiên
Lâm Duc

Hiên Lâm Duc

biography

Franco-Laotian photographer, Lâm Duc Hiên has been a member of Agence VU from 1995 to 2002 and since 2017. He lives and works between France and Kurdistan.

Born in 1966 on the banks of the Mekong in Paksé, Laos, Hiên Lâm Duc followed his family into exile after the victory of the Pathet-Lao. From the night crossing of the Mekong to Thailand, to two years in a refugee camp, and two escapes, the journey he began to reach France affected him forever. In 1977, when he arrived in France, he turned to an artistic career and obtained his diploma in Fine Arts in Plastic Expression.

His openness to the world colours his photographic work with a humanist sensitivity. His commitment is reflected in his personal projects as well as in commissions for the press and for NGOs. Romania, Russia, Bosnia, Chechnya, Rwanda, Sudan and especially Iraq are the territories he covers. His testimony makes sense when faced with the massive destruction of the major conflicts of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Committed to the protection of natural resources, he also documents the impact of contemporary changes on the way of life along the Mekong and Niger rivers.

Since the Gulf War in March 1991, he has become a direct witness to the suffering of the Iraqi population. People wounded between the devastating consequences of the international embargo and the terror imposed by Saddam Hussein’s regime. At the heart of his lens: hospitals, schools, markets, etc. which convey the population’s scarcity and weariness.

His work is regularly published in press, edited in books or exhibited. He has won above all the Leica Award, the Great European Award of the city of Vevey, the award of Villa Medicis outside the wall, or again the award of Jean-Luc Lagardère’s Foundation. The prestigious World Press Photo had rewarded the photographer’s portraits “Iraqi People”.

“Hiên Lâm Duc’s photography is a photography of necessity. The need to recover one’s history, one’s childhood, one’s identity, the need, because of one’s own history, to bear witness so that others do not suffer a similar one, the need to tell.” – Christian Caujolle

series

Science in India, a female universe, 2023

Series | In India, more and more women attempt at breaking the rules and at making a place for themselves in a scientific landscape where social and cultural barriers are still present.

The war in Ukraine, 2022

Série| In western Ukraine, the city of Lviv has been relatively spared by fighting since the start of the Russian invasion. It welcomes the massive flow of displaced Ukrainians who arrive at the train station with the hope of reaching the Polish border and finding refuge there.

Kurdistan, life under trees

series| In the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, every tree has a story and every village has its own myths and legends about trees. But bombing and illegal felling are increasingly threatening the trees and the centuries-old traditions linked to them.

The Iraqi War, 2017

In 2017, the war in Iraq is still ragging. The Iraqi army, supported by the international coalition, intensifies its strikes to regain control of the last strongholds still detained by the Islamic State.

Yusra, Free Swimmer, 2016

Yusra fled the war in Syria with her little sister. She didn’t hesitate to dive into water to rescue lives during the perilous crossing between Turkish and Greece. She captured the attention of the whole world during the 100 meters freestyle swim, in which she competed in Rio as a member of the Olympic refugee athletes.

Life After Typhoon Haiyan, 2013

At the center of the Filipino archipelago, the typhoon Haiyan ravaged mountains, hills and plains on November 8th 2013. More than 6,000 deaths and nearly 4 million displaced, Haiyan left a huge ravaged land in its path, a grey area that looks like death from the air, and that inspires fear.

Femmes, après coup, 2010

The series “Femmes, après coup” is the result of the engaged work of Lâm Duc Hiên on violence against women, weather its are physicals, sexual, morals or socio-economics.

Mekong River, Stories Of Men, 2009

The photographer Lâm Duc Hiên travelling-up the 4 200 km of the Mekong River from the delta in Vietnam to its source in Tibet. Back on the waters that had cradled his childhood, he reweaves his personal history while crossing the one of the men of the river.

Faces, 2001

Photographer who has been, since a long time, committed to children rights, Lâm Duc Hiên achieves a series of portraits during missions of the organization Enfants du Monde, in Vietnam, Palestine, Algeria, Kosovo, Guinea, Madagascar, Colombia and Philippines.

Enfance, Enfances, 2001

When is a child a child? Until when, is he precisely a child? When can a child carry arms? What about boys and girl’s equity? What about the right for a child to express an opinion on decisions affecting it?

Famine in South Sudan, 1998

Repeatedly, Sudan lives through war and hunger. In Bahr-el Gazhal, the “land of gazelles” in Southwestern Sudan, competition was traditionally fierce among the Dinkas tribes to crown the greatest milk drinker. Among these semi-nomadic shepperds, quite isolated from the world, each clan had its champion, symbol of the power of the group.

Romania, the Kids on the Pavement, 1992

For the kids on the pavement, the journey ends in a deadlock. Life outside is rough. Many people have gotten lost in drugs. With few exceptions, they find themselves with no future other than bumming or prison.

Science in India, a female universe, 2023

Series | In India, more and more women attempt at breaking the rules and at making a place for themselves in a scientific landscape where social and cultural barriers are still present.

The war in Ukraine, 2022

Série| In western Ukraine, the city of Lviv has been relatively spared by fighting since the start of the Russian invasion. It welcomes the massive flow of displaced Ukrainians who arrive at the train station with the hope of reaching the Polish border and finding refuge there.

Kurdistan, life under trees

series| In the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, every tree has a story and every village has its own myths and legends about trees. But bombing and illegal felling are increasingly threatening the trees and the centuries-old traditions linked to them.

The Iraqi War, 2017

In 2017, the war in Iraq is still ragging. The Iraqi army, supported by the international coalition, intensifies its strikes to regain control of the last strongholds still detained by the Islamic State.

Yusra, Free Swimmer, 2016

Yusra fled the war in Syria with her little sister. She didn’t hesitate to dive into water to rescue lives during the perilous crossing between Turkish and Greece. She captured the attention of the whole world during the 100 meters freestyle swim, in which she competed in Rio as a member of the Olympic refugee athletes.

Life After Typhoon Haiyan, 2013

At the center of the Filipino archipelago, the typhoon Haiyan ravaged mountains, hills and plains on November 8th 2013. More than 6,000 deaths and nearly 4 million displaced, Haiyan left a huge ravaged land in its path, a grey area that looks like death from the air, and that inspires fear.

Femmes, après coup, 2010

The series “Femmes, après coup” is the result of the engaged work of Lâm Duc Hiên on violence against women, weather its are physicals, sexual, morals or socio-economics.

Mekong River, Stories Of Men, 2009

The photographer Lâm Duc Hiên travelling-up the 4 200 km of the Mekong River from the delta in Vietnam to its source in Tibet. Back on the waters that had cradled his childhood, he reweaves his personal history while crossing the one of the men of the river.

Faces, 2001

Photographer who has been, since a long time, committed to children rights, Lâm Duc Hiên achieves a series of portraits during missions of the organization Enfants du Monde, in Vietnam, Palestine, Algeria, Kosovo, Guinea, Madagascar, Colombia and Philippines.

Enfance, Enfances, 2001

When is a child a child? Until when, is he precisely a child? When can a child carry arms? What about boys and girl’s equity? What about the right for a child to express an opinion on decisions affecting it?

Famine in South Sudan, 1998

Repeatedly, Sudan lives through war and hunger. In Bahr-el Gazhal, the “land of gazelles” in Southwestern Sudan, competition was traditionally fierce among the Dinkas tribes to crown the greatest milk drinker. Among these semi-nomadic shepperds, quite isolated from the world, each clan had its champion, symbol of the power of the group.

Romania, the Kids on the Pavement, 1992

For the kids on the pavement, the journey ends in a deadlock. Life outside is rough. Many people have gotten lost in drugs. With few exceptions, they find themselves with no future other than bumming or prison.

Science in India, a female universe, 2023

Series | In India, more and more women attempt at breaking the rules and at making a place for themselves in a scientific landscape where social and cultural barriers are still present.

The war in Ukraine, 2022

Série| In western Ukraine, the city of Lviv has been relatively spared by fighting since the start of the Russian invasion. It welcomes the massive flow of displaced Ukrainians who arrive at the train station with the hope of reaching the Polish border and finding refuge there.

Kurdistan, life under trees

series| In the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, every tree has a story and every village has its own myths and legends about trees. But bombing and illegal felling are increasingly threatening the trees and the centuries-old traditions linked to them.

The Iraqi War, 2017

In 2017, the war in Iraq is still ragging. The Iraqi army, supported by the international coalition, intensifies its strikes to regain control of the last strongholds still detained by the Islamic State.

Yusra, Free Swimmer, 2016

Yusra fled the war in Syria with her little sister. She didn’t hesitate to dive into water to rescue lives during the perilous crossing between Turkish and Greece. She captured the attention of the whole world during the 100 meters freestyle swim, in which she competed in Rio as a member of the Olympic refugee athletes.

Life After Typhoon Haiyan, 2013

At the center of the Filipino archipelago, the typhoon Haiyan ravaged mountains, hills and plains on November 8th 2013. More than 6,000 deaths and nearly 4 million displaced, Haiyan left a huge ravaged land in its path, a grey area that looks like death from the air, and that inspires fear.

Femmes, après coup, 2010

The series “Femmes, après coup” is the result of the engaged work of Lâm Duc Hiên on violence against women, weather its are physicals, sexual, morals or socio-economics.

Mekong River, Stories Of Men, 2009

The photographer Lâm Duc Hiên travelling-up the 4 200 km of the Mekong River from the delta in Vietnam to its source in Tibet. Back on the waters that had cradled his childhood, he reweaves his personal history while crossing the one of the men of the river.

Faces, 2001

Photographer who has been, since a long time, committed to children rights, Lâm Duc Hiên achieves a series of portraits during missions of the organization Enfants du Monde, in Vietnam, Palestine, Algeria, Kosovo, Guinea, Madagascar, Colombia and Philippines.

Enfance, Enfances, 2001

When is a child a child? Until when, is he precisely a child? When can a child carry arms? What about boys and girl’s equity? What about the right for a child to express an opinion on decisions affecting it?

Famine in South Sudan, 1998

Repeatedly, Sudan lives through war and hunger. In Bahr-el Gazhal, the “land of gazelles” in Southwestern Sudan, competition was traditionally fierce among the Dinkas tribes to crown the greatest milk drinker. Among these semi-nomadic shepperds, quite isolated from the world, each clan had its champion, symbol of the power of the group.

Romania, the Kids on the Pavement, 1992

For the kids on the pavement, the journey ends in a deadlock. Life outside is rough. Many people have gotten lost in drugs. With few exceptions, they find themselves with no future other than bumming or prison.

interviews

Lam Duc Hien and JP Lepers
—
9 March 2024

Interview with Lam Duc Hien and JP Lepers after the screening of their film ‘Kurdistan, mon amour’ at the 20th Partances festival

Lam Duc Hien, photographe
Nara Keo Kosal
—
2020

The photographer Lam Duc Hien talks about his work on the Mekong.

En sol majeur
RFI
—
Interview by Yasmine Chouaki, 2010

A reporter without borders, a witness of humanitarian chaos, Lâm Duc Hiên, for several years has been interest in his own roots from the other border et in the fate of the greatest rivers in the world. He is the author of seven books and the director of the documentary: The Mekong River and the Photographer.

Listen

En sol majeur
RFI
—
Interview by Yasmine Chouaki, 2009

Ripped from the edges of the Mekong River as a child, passed by the refugee camps in Thailand, this “child of History” became a photographer to answer the need to fix what was amputated to him. From now on, caught up by the international actuality, the one of Romania, Kosovo or Rwanda, Lâm Duc Hiên’s lens is blending between the hell of the other and a kind-of romantic thing. Perhaps an effect of the Mekong, this river as mystical as it is enchanting.

Listen

books

Kurdistan, mon ami

Editions Odyssée - 2024

Le Mékong

Chêne - 2007

Faces

Anako Editions - 2001

Irak, le jardin des murmures

Anako Editions - 2000

Carnet de visites

Actes Sud – Photo poche société n°6 - 1999

Enfance, enfances

Coédition Liana Levi-Unicef - 1999

Roumanie, les gamins du pavé

Anako Editions - 1993

Kurdistan, mon ami

Editions Odyssée - 2024

Le Mékong

Chêne - 2007

Faces

Anako Editions - 2001

Irak, le jardin des murmures

Anako Editions - 2000

Carnet de visites

Actes Sud – Photo poche société n°6 - 1999

Enfance, enfances

Coédition Liana Levi-Unicef - 1999

Roumanie, les gamins du pavé

Anako Editions - 1993

Kurdistan, mon ami

Editions Odyssée - 2024

Le Mékong

Chêne - 2007

Faces

Anako Editions - 2001

Irak, le jardin des murmures

Anako Editions - 2000

Carnet de visites

Actes Sud – Photo poche société n°6 - 1999

Enfance, enfances

Coédition Liana Levi-Unicef - 1999

Roumanie, les gamins du pavé

Anako Editions - 1993

Awards

Prize of the Festival “Chroniques Nomades”, France

2004

World Press Photo Contest, first prize category “Portrait Stories”, Netherlands

For his work « Iraqi people under the embargo”

2001

Villa Medicis Hors les Murs Scholarship

1996

European Prize of the city of Vevey, Switzerland

1995

Prize of the National Center of Photography, Less Thirty, France

1994

Prize of the Foundation Marcel Bluestein-Blanchet, France

1994