“Chẹp Chẹp”. An utterance by the photographer after reminiscing about the 4 years in Brisbane, Australia. Like a lip smack, the photo series shares Tran Vinh Dat’s dreamy view from days of horsing around with his ‘blokes’ in a foreign land. As international students, the young men banded together as a collective to adapt to the environment.

Intermingled images of flora, fauna, and the detritus of student life create respite amongst the chaotic cycles of lust, hazing and herd mentality.

Dat uses photography to record this miasma and to commit it to memory, and to convey the inclinations, posturing and multi-faceted relationships of his everyday life. The series hashes out - and fleshes out - Dat’s nostalgia towards his own coming-of-age and getting lost and found in fun. Oscillating between observing to participating, Dat’s perspective shifts between gears of suspense - peaking highs of activity and lows of uncertain emptiness. “It is what it is”.

Please join us for the private preview with artist Dat Vinh Tran, Friday, March 13th, at The Hummingbird Cafe Saigon from 6.30 - 8.30 pm. Click "Going" or RSVP to thehummingbirdcafesaigon@gmail.com

Text by Dat Vu and Josie Turnbull