05. Reflect
It’s an invitation for a treasure hunt on paper
Images mapping a route connecting past and present
The contour of a familiar crowd
is stating a country
Merging places and people.
He, She, They, Here and There become one
after having been set apart for so long.
They have been sent to wait until it comes.

- From the introductory poem in Tropism by Nhu Xuan Hua (Area Books, 2023).

We met Nhu Xuan Hua in Paris and were struck by how immersed she was in every detail of her process—from props and sets to the conceptual groundwork behind each shoot. In her project Tropism, published by Area Books, Hua blends digital manipulation with instinctive image-making to revisit and transform family photographs. What begins as a personal inquiry into memory expands into a broader reflection on the Vietnamese diaspora, linking the intimate with the political, and addressing how history continues to shape identity and representation. Her return to Vietnam in 2016 marked the start of this ongoing process of reconnection.