To see or to be seen

LOCATION

Complex 01

29 ngách 31 ngõ 167 Tây Sơn

EXHIBITION DATE

05.11 – 19.11.2025

8:00 – 23:00

OPENING

05.11.2025 – 15:00

ORGANIZERS

Since the early 1990s, German photographer Birgit Kleber has been capturing portraits of fellow photographers in the series Photographers. Over three decades, this series has brought together over 100 portraits, forming a vivid visual chronicle of photography itself. Kleber’s compositions draw attention to the subject’s eyes — where fleeting expressions emerge, moments supposed to last only for a blink are seized and preserved in the photograph’s still eternity.

For the series Việt-Đức: 20 Gesichter, 20 Geschichten, Birgit Kleber portrayed 20 remarkable German-Vietnamese individuals. The series sheds light on a topic still not often presented in the public perception and inspires future generations. Each portrait is the result of a shared attitude between the artist and her subject. 

Presented side by side in the exhibition to see or to be seen, Photographers seem to represent the observer, while 20 Geschiter the observed. Yet once photographed, every subject simultaneously sees and is seen. By placing the nature of the medium alongside the identity of its subjects, the exhibition poses a question that has echoed since the dawn of modern society: What does it mean to see and to be seen? And how can we ensure that more diverse voices and faces continue to be seen, heard, and valued?

ARTISTS

Birgit Kleber

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