MONDAY, MAY 10, 1999

Vietnamese photographer reveals his work

By Lot Tan

On-Line Forty-Niner

No one but photographer Dinh Le would have ever dreamed that weaving grass mats would lead to a brilliantly successful career weaving photographs together.

Le spoke to more than 100 students about his work and life Wednesday at Cal State Long Beach.

"My work is a self-portrait," Le said. "I cut photos and try to weave them back together."

The talented photographer must slice each photograph and then weave it together. Le said he learned how to weave photographs by watching his aunt weave grass mats in Vietnam.

Le was born in Ho-Tien, Vietnam in 1968 and came to the United States with his family at age 10. He received a bachelor's in fine arts from UC Santa Barbara and later graduated with a master's in fine arts in photography and digital imaging from the School of Visual Arts in New York.

The photographer's best work is arguably one that shows a head looking at its body to see where it is.

"The portrait is of my heart in Vietnam and my head in the United States," he said.

Not only is Le torn between heart and mind, he is also ripped apart by East and West. Le's photograph of Buddha on the left, himself in the middle and Jesus on the right symbolizes that he does not perfectly fit in either place.

Le said he was influenced by Cambodia when he visited the war-torn country. What Le found was a horrific high school that resembled a graveyard in Phnom Penh, the country's capital.

However, behind the brutality of Cambodia, Le discovered the beautiful artistic history of the country.