Danh, Binh, 1977-

Binh Danh was born in Vietnam in 1977 and immigrated to the United States with his family when he was two years old. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from San Jose State University in 2002 before becoming one of the youngest artists ever invited to the Stanford University Master of Fine Arts program. Since completing his MFA at Stanford in 2004, Dahn's work has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions and has been added to numerous permanent collections. Dahn pioneered the chlorophyll print process which produces photographic style prints on organic matter such as leaves and grass. He uses this process to explore history, memory, interconnectedness, and death and to emphasize his notions of permanence and transformation. Through his work, Danh attempts to understand the residual effects of war on human memory and environmental landscapes. He often uses haunting found images created during the Vietnam War to investigate and reconstruct memories of events that have occurred before his time, but have left profound imprints on his personal experience. In 2002 Danh and his mother visited Pulua Bidong, a small abandoned Island off the coast of Malaysia, where Danh's family once lived in a Vietnamese refugee camp. Danh photographed the island during his visit and collected abandoned ephemera scattered throughout the remaining island's buildings.

From the description of Binh Danh photographs from the Pulau Bidong series, 2003 - 2009. (University of California, Irvine). WorldCat record id: 681399461

Historical Background

Binh Danh was born in Vietnam in 1977 and immigrated to the United States with his family when he was two years old. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from San Jose State University in 2002 before becoming one of the youngest artists ever invited to the Stanford University Master of Fine Arts program. Since completing his MFA at Stanford in 2004, Dahn's work has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions and has been added to numerous permanent collections including those at the Corcoran Art Gallery, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the deYoung Museum, the George Eastman House, and the Harry Ransom Center.

Dahn pioneered the chlorophyll print process which produces photographic style prints on organic matter such as leaves and grass. He uses this process to explore history, memory, interconnectedness, and death and to emphasize his notions of permanence and transformation. Through his work, Danh attempts to understand the residual effects of war on human memory and environmental landscapes. Dahn's chlorophyll process is the tangible result of his personal belief in elemental transmigration - the decomposition and composition of matter into other forms - and the philosophy that there is no death, only transformation. He often uses haunting found images created during the Vietnam War to investigate and reconstruct memories of events that have occurred before his time, but have left profound imprints on his personal experience.

In 2002 Danh and his mother visited Pulua Bidong, a small abandoned Island off the coast of Malaysia, where Danh's family once lived in a Vietnamese refugee camp. Danh photographed the island during his visit and collected abandoned ephemera scattered throughout the remaining island's buildings. The Pulau Bidong Series includes chlorophyll prints of images from found ephemera and photographs taken on the island.

From the guide to the Binh Danh photographs from the Pulau Bidong series, 2003-2009, (University of California, Irvine. Libraries. Special Collections and Archives.)