GOLDEN FIELD

Hoi An - 2020

an Gogh’s series of wheat field paintings show the importance he put into his color palette. He often paired ochre yellow and sky blue, colors can naturally be found throughout the Vietnamese countryside during the autumn months. In October, typhoons increasingly touch down on the coast of Hoi An. When the storm passed, the rice fields and town were left flooded with water and fish washed in from the sea. This oeuvre was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture both the colors reminiscent of 19th-century masterworks and to represent the resilience of the Vietnamese people.

Creation

This artistic work was shot just after the typhoon passed, when the golden light returned to the countryside. The texture of floating rice stalks with their wide expanse of burnt sienna and umber colors takes up the majority of the composition with more space on the left vs. the right side of the image. The unbalanced ratio between the subject and the colored empty space creates a sense of movement and intrigue. We follow the sight line of the man rather than pausing on him alone. This off-center cropping between the background and the subject was something that the Impressionists often played with in their works to lend a more spontaneous and compelling atmosphere to their compositions.

After a typhoon, rice stalks floated on top of high flood waters. Rather than wasting the opportunity, fishermen, such as the man featured in this work, came to the fields to cast their nets in the water-logged fields.

Inspiration

Water Lilies, 1906 by Claude Monet cho is an homage to Monet and his passion for waterlilies. In symbolism, reflections represent the idea of truth. In the Impressionist movement, painters used reflections to see the ephemeral nature of light through a new lens.

Creation

In Hoi An, it’s common to see women tending to lotus blossoms in ponds and waterways. Réhahn wanted to highlight the symbolism of the flowers. Lotuses are symbols of strength and rebirth because they rise each morning from the murky water to open their perfect petals, only to sink again in the evening. In this photograph, he shot only the reflection of the woman in the water, while the flowers remain the focal point - as if they are the only reality, not humankind.

Hoi An - 2021

A soft reflection of an artisan tending to her lotus blossoms in the late afternoon recalls the myth of the water nymph Echo and Narcissus. The quiet beauty of the flowers draws the viewer down to gaze at the image in the rippled pond.