Fishermen from coastal villages helped him collect sea shells from the ocean and from seafood restaurants for his artwork.
Many Da Nang and central region landscapes now appear on his oyster, snail and clam shell prints, which are created manually, using 3-dimensional imagery. The initial photo design and maquette are done on a computer to set up the desired image on a shell.
“It’s a new milestone of my creation. I succeeded in printing photos on stones and leaves, but sea shell is quite a challenge,” Vy said. “Shell surfaces are not flat, so it takes time to print a photo on a shell. It’s amazing,” he said. "Eighty percent of the printing process on shell is done by hand."
Shell portraits are always the most challenging customer orders. Each portrait must reflect every element of face and gesture on an uneven shell surface. "I tested photo printing on everything from big to tiny shells, and nothing is impossible,” he said.
Vy, 66, was born in Duy Xuyen district of Quang Nam province and grew up in Da Nang. He is considered the first innovator of printing photos on leaves and stones. Shell photo prints can last for centuries with his technique, so customers can preserve their images for a long time.
Vy wants to offer special souvenirs for tourists and friends visiting Da Nang and other places in the central coastal region. Tourists can take portraits and impressive landscape photos and have them printed on sea shells within two days.
The artist plans to create shell portraits of leaders of countries participating in the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) Summit in Da Nang next year as gifts. The portraits will also include an image of the red-shanked douc langur (Pygathryx nemaeus) – an endangered species recognised by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2013.
