Untitled Document

Plum Blossoms gallery is pleased to present Ellen Kaplowitz’s photographs of Vietnam. The show will include over 20 large-scale photographs taken throughout Vietnam over the last 10 years. Kaplowitz’s interest in Vietnam began in 1993, since then she has traveled extensively throughout the country. Her photographs provide an insider’s account of the changing world of Vietnam.

The majority of Kaplowitz’s work focuses on the variety of the Vietnamese people and their customs. Kaplowitz captures the early morning fisherman casting their nets, the smoky fires of makeshift houseboat kitchens, the rush of cyclists leaving work in a city afternoon, a family dressed for a traditional photo, a Vietnamese wedding, and several views of the lush countryside with its near endless beds of rice. She is drawn to the vibrant color of both countryside and city as well as to the rich surfaces of the walls and buildings in Vietnamese streetscapes. The fortuitous juxtapositions that occur with Kaplowitz’s sharp eye and dead-on timing are a moving part of Kaplowitz’s vision.

This exhibition will be held in conjunction with the release of Kaplowitz’s new book A World of Decent Dreams - Vietnam Images. The book, published by Weatherhill, pairs Kaplowitz’s work with Vietnamese poetry spanning over 800 years. It includes an introduction by Jeffrey Hantover and a foreward by Bernard Kalb.

Ellen Kaplowitz has had several exhibitions in New York, most recently she has contributed photo images to the American Museum of Natural History’s joint exhibition with the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi titled Vietnam: Journeys of Body, Mind and Spirit, opening in New York in March 2003 and in Hanoi in 2005. These exhibitions are part of several New York exhibitions that focus on Vietnam held throughout March and April of 2003.

Kaplowitz was born in New York City, and currently lives in New York.