On An Sen’s mother’s birthday in 2020, there was a photograph on the cake. It was an Instax print of the two of them on a trip to Da Lat. Around it, candles were waiting to be blown out. An had bought the cake with money from a first job, then made another photograph of the moment.
The resulting picture holds one memory inside another. What cannot be seen is the pride of buying that cake, the warmth of the room, or the years of care that made the gesture possible. For An, those things remain part of the photograph.
A family album before a film camera
Photography entered An’s life through a childhood album put together by their mother. Born in 1996, An remembers being taken to a photo studio every year for a birthday portrait. Looking at photographs and being photographed were familiar experiences long before learning how film worked.
Around 2020, a friend introduced An to analogue cameras, gave them one and explained how to use it. Curiosity grew from taking pictures into learning camera controls and developing roll film. But the connection to the family album remained: photographs were a way to keep experiences close.
Design and photography can ask for different things
An works in graphic design, but does not describe photography as an extension of that work. Design, in An’s account, involves structure and control: arranging type, images, colour and layout to communicate an idea. Photography offers another kind of creative space.
A mistake in a design can be difficult to accept. A photograph that is technically imperfect can still matter because of the feeling or memory it holds. Keeping the two practices independent gives An room to approach each on its own terms.
“To me, a camera is like a visual diary; without photos, I tend to forget a lot, so I try to capture the things that matter most.”
That diary includes landscapes, everyday situations and loved ones who are comfortable being photographed. There are also moments when An puts the camera down to experience what is happening directly. Finding that balance is not always easy: a camera is usually something An wants within reach.
Different cameras for different moments
There is no final choice between film and digital in An’s practice. A manual Fujica Drive offers one kind of involvement; a Konica C35 EF3 offers another way to photograph on film. An uses a Fujifilm X-T2 for work needing more detail, while instant cameras appear at birthdays and Christmas. The occasion helps decide which camera comes along.
Experimenting is part of the pleasure. An has tried different analogue cameras and is drawn to redscale, slide film, LomoChrome Purple and expired stocks, as well as half-frame formats, panoramic views and double exposures. These are personal interests, not a checklist someone else needs to follow.
One of the photographs shared here marked a small achievement: photographing a street food cart at night on Bùi Viện. An remembers the vendor selling grilled dried squid and the energy of the street around the cart. Making the photograph mattered as an experience of learning what was possible with the camera.
The photograph that exists
An usually prefers colour. Yet a black-and-white image from a first monochrome roll remains particularly important. The roll was Kodak Tri-X 400, which An says had expired in July 1979 and was given to them by a stranger in an online film group. An exposed it in 2021.
The photograph is a quiet arrangement of tables, chairs and shadows. An values the structure of the image and the surprise that this particular old roll produced pictures at all. The result belongs to that roll and that experience; it is not a promise about how other expired film will behave.
Asked about mistakes, An draws the line somewhere other than technical perfection. An image can be grainy, dusty or unexpectedly coloured and still hold a memory. The hardest result is having no photograph at all: a forgotten memory card, an exhausted battery or a film problem can mean a moment goes unrecorded.
Beginning again in a different place
An recently moved from Vietnam to the United States. During that transition, a smartphone has been the quickest way to record everyday life. Film photography has been less frequent, but An is making time to return to it and is curious about photographing and having film developed in a new place.
The advice An offers a beginner comes from that same willingness to keep starting: work with the camera and experience available to you, without waiting for technical perfection. A photograph’s value, for An, lies in the feelings and moments it carries.
The birthday picture makes that idea tangible. A cake, candles and a small instant print are visible. The rest of its meaning arrives with the person who remembers.
Questions about An Sen’s photography
Does An Sen only photograph on film?
No. An uses analogue, digital, instant and smartphone cameras for different situations and enjoys experimenting across them.
How does graphic design influence the work?
An describes design and photography as independent creative outlets: design calls for control, while photographs can preserve something valuable even when technically imperfect.
What makes the birthday photograph important?
It records the first birthday cake An bought for their mother with earnings from a first job, with an earlier Instax photograph of them together placed on the cake.
Explore An Sen’s photographs on Lomography. If you are starting with film, our guide to developing and scanning your first roll explains the practical next steps.
Based on An Sen’s written interview for Developing Stories. Interview and editing: Emiliano Vittoriosi / Berlin Photo Studio. Photographs and image information: An Sen.
