Portrait #17: from the Cambodian Killing Fields at Tuol Sleng

Artist Binh Danh American, born Vietnam, 1977

Date2007

MediumChlorophyll print on leaf, encased in resin

Dimensionsframe: 17 × 11 in. (43.2 × 27.9 cm)

ClassificationsPhotography

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Friends of Photography

Object number2008.10

On View

Not on view

Label TextDanh’s intimate portraits transform archival images to fabricate memories of his parents’ lives in Vietnam. His family rarely discussed the Vietnam War, and he has very few memories of that time. Danh’s work reconstructs personal and collective memory and history, and his materials comment on the fragility and elusive nature of memory and history.

Danh describes his unique photographs as “chlorophyll prints.” He starts by selecting a leaf, preferably from his mother’s garden. Danh then places the leaf on a felt-covered board and rests a photographic negative directly on the leaf. He exposes the leaf and negative to sunlight to make the image. If he likes the result, he preserves it by sealing it in resin and framing it.
["Portraits and Power," 2024]ProvenanceCreated California, 2007; collection of the artist; [Lisa Sette Gallery, Scotsdale, AZ]; sold to NCMA, 2008.
Exhibition HistoryScottsdale, AZ, Lisa Sette Gallery, "Binh Danh: The Botany of Tuol Sleng," April 5-28, 2007.

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