ENT doctor of Thu Duc City Hospital won first prize in world culinary photo contest with 'Banh Hoi'

ENT doctor of Thu Duc City Hospital won first prize in world culinary photo with 'Banh Hoi' - Photo 1.

The work "Banh Hoi" won the World Food Photography Awards 2025 - Photo: HOAI ANH

At the World Food Photography Awards 2025, Dang Hoai Anh's Banh Hoi won first prize in the Champagne Taittinger Food for Celebration category.

Art photography is like an adventure. But it happens inside and challenges me to find the difference. When I shoot, I always be honest with my own feelings first because simply, lies can never be beautiful.

Photographer Dang Hoai Anh

Find yourself through photography

8 years ago, when he was still an emergency medicine doctor, Dr. Dang Hoai Anh started taking up photography to relax after stressful working hours.

At first, he took pictures of Da Lat with his phone. Then, seeing that the pictures were interesting, he gradually upgraded his device to a camera, learned more skills on his own and improved through the times he traveled alone to take pictures.

Sharing about the work Banh Hoi that won the World Food Photography Awards 2025, photographer Hoai Anh said that the photo belongs to the photo series Sunshine and Smoke , where he found pure childhood memories with his grandmother.

“I don’t remember any of the important milestones in my life such as graduating from university or master’s degree, but I always remember very clearly the peaceful days when I sat next to my grandmother, blowing on the fire to cook rice and watching the sunlight shine through the smoke. That’s why I took this photo series,” said Hoai Anh.

Dang Hoai Anh - Photo 2.

Photographer Hoai Anh

Every year, he will search for an idea and pursue to tell the story of that idea through a series of photos. When an idea is formed, Hoai Anh will start to analyze and visualize the context in his head. Then he will look for the space and moment to recreate that.

To date, there have been about 9 completed photo collections. Each photo collection represents an idea he has contemplated from life.

On holidays or days off from the hospital, instead of choosing to rest, Dr. Hoai Anh will start his photography journey. Most of the trips he chooses to go alone by motorbike.

There are trips that last hundreds of kilometers in exchange for a few beautiful photos, along with joy rising from the depths of the soul. According to photographer Hoai Anh, it is also a journey for him to find himself.

“For me, art is about contemplating life. Thanks to photography, I can dig deep inside myself and find the nooks and crannies that I once thought I understood clearly,” he confided.

Dang Hoai Anh - Photo 3.

Photography is Hoai Anh's journey to find himself - Photo: HOAI ANH

Dang Hoai Anh - be true to yourself

Behind the lens, photographer Hoai Anh is also an ENT doctor. He is currently working at Thu Duc City Hospital (HCMC).

According to him, the intersection between photography and medicine is honesty. When wearing a white coat, he always tries to keep a clear mind and be honest with his patients. Just like in photography, he is always honest with himself first.

Balancing two lives with distinct personalities is not easy. In medicine, everything from diagnosing a disease to prescribing a drug or ordering a surgery must be done according to standards.

However, art always requires artists to be creative and make a difference. Doctor and photographer Hoai Anh always tries to balance these two personalities.

“Photography is an anchor for me to balance my life, helps me not to think too much about how to choose a way of life and reminds me to live a beautiful life.

Thanks to that, I no longer struggle, every decision in my medical work becomes routine with the sole goal of doing the best for the patient," Mr. Hoai Anh shared.

Dang Hoai Anh - Photo 4.

Photography is the anchor that helps Mr. Hoai Anh balance his life - Photo: HOAI ANH

Besides photography, Mr. Hoai Anh also has a special love for literature, and had a number of works that won online literature awards when he was a student.

Now the stories he wanted to tell have become a graphic novel called The Secret Forest .

Most of the works of photographer Hoai Anh exude a magical, sometimes melancholy quality. It could be a hard-working worker in the city, nestled under the dim night lights. It could also be someone, small in a pine forest filled with early morning sunlight…

Dang Hoai Anh - Photo 5.