Having succeeded at printing photography on stones and leaves, Mr Le Nguyen Vy started working with sea shells – a tough material for photo printing – and pioneered the art of printing photographs on shells in Viet Nam.

Written on stone: A photograph printed on a stone pendant.

Fishermen from coastal villages helped him collect sea shells from the ocean and from seafood restaurants for his artworks.

Many landscapes of Da Nang and those of the central region as a whole now appear on his oyster, snail and clam shell prints, which are created manually, using 3-dimensional imagery. The initial photo design and maquette are done on a computer to set up the desired image on a shell.

“It’s a new milestone of my creation.  I succeeded in printing photos on stones and leaves, but sea shell is quite a challenge,” Vy said.

“Shell surfaces are not flat, so it takes time to print a photo on a shell. It’s amazing,” he said. “80% of the printing process on shell is done by hand."

Shell portraits are always the most challenging customer orders. Each portrait must reflect every element of face and gesture on an uneven shell surface.

"I tested photo printing on everything from big to tiny shells, and nothing is impossible,” he said.

What I’ve done: Mr Vy displays one of his photographic printings on shell. VNS Photos Công Thành

Mr Vy, 66, was born in Quang Nam Province’s Duy Xuyen District and grew up in Da Nang.  He is considered the first innovator of printing photos on leaves and stones.

Shell photo prints can last for centuries with his technique, so customers can preserve their images for a long time.

Vy wants to offer special souvenirs for tourists and friends visiting Da Nang and other places in the central coastal region. Tourists can take portraits and impressive landscape photos and have them printed on sea shells within 2 days.

The artist plans to create shell portraits of leaders of countries participating in the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) Economic Leaders’ Week in Da Nang next November as gifts.  The portraits will also include an image of the red-shanked douc langur– an endangered species recognised by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2013.

In the past, Vỹ successful printed the ‘Binh Ngo Dai Cao’ (Proclamation of Victory over Foreign Invaders) – a famous poem composed by the brilliant strategist Nguyen Trai in 1428 – on a stone pendant. Shops sold these pendants as souvenirs.

Photos on crystals

Vy also spent three months experimenting with printing photos on crystals.

“It’s quite different. Crystal creates twinkling light effects with light-emitting diodes. Portraits and other images look lively,” said An Dy, a visitor.

“It seems like he puts a live portrait inside crystal. I could not image that photos are imprinted in even tiny size on sea shells and crystals as well as stone and leaf,” she said, adding that it’s extraordinary pieces of artworks and innovation.

Crystal clear: One of artist Vy’s creations.

Vy, who studied philosophy in Ho Chi Minh City, said he wished to recreate everything in life on sea shells, stones and leaves, as well as to tell ocean stories on oyster shells.

In 2007, Vy was recognised as the inventor of printing photographs on stone by the Viet Nam Records Book Centre, after nearly 18 years of optimising the process.

"I select stones, leaves, crystals and shells to feature my desires, images and stories. I hope my artworks make Da Nang, and the central region as a whole, not only a World Heritage destination, but a rendezvous for encounters with mysterious creations of stone-crystal-leaf-and shell.”

All the artworks are made by Vy and his son on an alley in Son Tra District. Vy’s work is on display at a subway near the Holiday Beach Hotel on Son Tra Peninsula.

(Source: VNS/ Da Nang Today)