Photographer reveals about 'calendar queen' Diem Huong

Photographer Thai Nhan said that in the past, models had to prepare themselves before taking photos and did not have as much support from a crew as they do now. That helped him realize that 'calendar queen' Diem Huong is a meticulous and thoughtful person when working.

Photographer Thai Nhan specializes in taking photos of beauties in Vietnamese showbiz from the generation of Diem Huong, Diem My, Trinh Kim Chi, Thanh Xuan, Y Phung,... to later generations like Ngo Thanh Van, Minh Hang, Ngoc Lan... In the 1990s, he also specialized in taking calendar photos, especially Ao Dai calendars.

With over 30 years of experience in the profession, Thai Nhan has just shared interesting information about the topic of 1990s calendar photos in the Multidimensional Glass program.

Photographer Thai Nhan is a guest on the Multidimensional Glass program.

Photo: Organizing Committee

According to the male photographer, he started taking calendar photos in 1992-1993. This was the "blooming" period of "calendar queens" such as Viet Trinh, Diem Huong, Diem My, Kieu Khanh, Vo Song Huong, Y Phung... To produce a calendar, Thai Nhan had to prepare a year in advance. The male guest said that right after Tet, bookstores and publishers called to place orders for the following year.

Back then, photographer Thai Nhan had to shoot with a film camera. After the shoot, he would print out an A4 sheet of 36 small photos and send them to the publisher or bookstore. Then, the ordering unit would select the photos by using a magnifying glass to examine each detail and mark them. From there, photographer Thai Nhan would print the photos in large sizes of about 50x75cm or 50x70cm.

Photographer Thai Nhan revealed: "In the old portrait calendars, models were not allowed to put their hands on their heads, rest their chins on their hands, or wear white or black clothes. In addition, there was a somewhat spiritual story that if a model had a heavy spirit, she would not be included in the calendar. A heavy spirit meant that if a model was printed on the cover but could not be sold, then the word spread in the photography world that she should not be called to take photos again...".

Photographer shares about his journey of taking Ao Dai photos

Photo: Organizing Committee

After the photos were exposed, photographer Thai Nhan began handing them over to the photo editor. He said: “When it’s calendar season, the photo editors can’t keep up because there are so many orders. In the past, Hoang Truong was the top of the calendar. If I was late, the photo editors would already have all the photos taken by Hoang Truong. At that time, I had to find other photo editors and then take the edited photos to the bookstore.”

According to him, with a 7-page calendar, all the models will be printed on the cover. Inside the calendar are pictures of girls wearing colorful costumes.

Photographer talks about "calendar queen" Diem Huong

Also according to photographer Thai Nhan, in the past, when inviting models to take photos, they had to do their own makeup and prepare their own costumes because there was no concept of a crew like today. For example, when photographer Thai Nhan called to invite Diem Huong to take photos, she would do her own makeup. For photos of ao dai, the male photographer would prepare the costumes, and for fashion photos, she would take care of the clothes.

One of the things that impressed photographer Thai Nhan about “calendar queen” Diem Huong was her carefulness and meticulousness in making sure each hat matched the color of her outfit. The male photographer recounted: “Diem Huong prepared everything very carefully. Before the photo shoot, I went to Huong’s house and saw her painting each hat. I asked and found out that she painted the hat to match the color of her shirt.”

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhiep-anh-gia-tiet-lo-ve-nu-hoang-anh-lich-diem-huong-185250710103721492.htm