Anh Ðào Kolbe - Boston Photographer
Anh Ðào Kolbe’s journey as a Vietnamese American has come full circle. Thirty years after leaving Vietnam, she returns to photograph a familiar yet distant culture. Tieng Magazine catches up with her and asks her a few questions about her trip.
This is her story:
Born somewhere outside Saigon, Vietnam, I came to the United States via New York City in 1972, a year after my mother (adoptive) found me at six months at An Lac Orphanage.
I left two years later and grew up with my Greek and German parents in the Middle Eastern countries of Qatar and Oman, spending my entire childhood schooled in the British system. After spending my formative years in an all girls’ boarding school near Bath, England, I came back to this country via Boston for college, but didn’t exploit my starving artist talents until after graduation.
Since then, I have been considered the unofficial dyke photographer of Boston’s queer community, though my activism has been more concentrated in the surrounding non-queer Asian communities for the last three years.
At the beginning of 2003, I returned to my motherland for the first time since my adoption almost thirty years ago and backpacked solo for two months around the beautiful country with camera in hand. I am currently working on publishing my photographs as an adoptee revisiting my birthplace.
Interview:
How’d you get involved with NHA magazine?
I know a woman named Christie (Thao) Nguyen, who I met through the Vietnam Women’s Forum. She knew I was a photographer and had asked me to photograph author Le Diem Thuy.
What is your favorite thing/person to shoot?
My wife, Raquel Evita Seidel. She is just breathtaking...
Why did you return to Vietnam?
I had been wanting to back to Vietnam since college, as I felt this constant missing piece in my soul. It wasn¡¦t like I felt complete. It felt more like I had some unfinished business I needed to take care of. I think that’s a normal nagging feeling that most adoptees experience.
What did you remember most about Vietnam before coming back?
The noisy sounds of the forever bustling of mopeds and motorbikes. I miss most being on the back of one with my camera in hand.
How do you feel about it now?
I feel like I have closure finally. That I don’t have to keep looking over my shoulder and figure out my past. A lot of things will still always be a mystery, but I feel at peace that no matter who may still accuse me of not being Asian enough, I was born Vietnamese and will die Vietnamese. Besides, being my version of Vietnamese is only one of the many facets of who I am, and I take a lot of pride in being different and unique.
Did going back to Vietnam change your views about America?
Not really, but I guess I should learn not to take being an American citizen for granted, despite the hypocritical society that we live in.
How is the community in Boston?
I haven’t been involved in any communities in Boston for a few years now, but as far as I can still see, the Vietnamese community is visible.
What makes a great photo?
An image that isn’t necessarily understood while I’m taking it (for instance, someone may stop and ask why I’m photographing a particular object or person)... but the final photograph reaches them in some way. They see the beauty in something they may have not been at all interested in before I snapped the photo.
Visit Anh Ðào Kolbe’s Gallery for these pictures and more.