History
Maika Elan (aka Nguyen Thanh Hai) is a freelance photographer based in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
After study sociology at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi, Maika started to use the camera, and then Lomo’s family cameras, to take pictures of her daily and private life since 2008. She turned to professional photography soon starting collaborations for editorial clients and fashion firms in Vietnam. In 2010 Maika moved to documentary photography and her first project called The Pink Choice, focused on personal life of gay couples in Vietnam, has been published in many magazines on print and online such as in USA, UK, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain, China, India and Brazil...
Maika Elan was double-awarded for the “best photo essay” and the “best single photo” in 2010 at Indochina Media Memorial Foundation and in 2012 The Pink Choice was finalist at Asian Women Photographers.
Her first solo exhibition has been hosted at Goethe Institut in Hanoi in 2012.
The Pink Choice won 1st prize stories, Contemporary Issues, at World Press Photo 2013 and 1st prize documentary story at Pride Photo Award 2013.
Maika also participant in the 2013 Joop Swart Masterclass in Amsterdam, Holand and sellected for the VII Mentor program from 2014-2016.
Maika's name is also honored in the Forbes Vietnam 30under30 list in 2014.
In 2017, Maika is one of the six selected talents of the first 6x6 Global Talent Program in Southeast Asia & Oceania - an initiative organized by The World Press Photo.
Exhibitions:
2018
POST-REPORT-SHARE, Bangkok, Thailand.
GIRLS TOWN at Festival Pil'Our, France.
2017
WOMEN IN PHOTOGRAPHY at Objectifs, Singapore.
#DYSTURB - #WOMENMATTER, Preus Museum, Horten, Norway.
2016
LIVEABLE CITIES, Quito, Ecuador.
NO TO SORROW, Goethe Institut, Hanoi, Vietnam.
2015
GUATE PHOTO, Guatemala, Central America.
DISLOCATION/NEGOTIATING IDENTITY, Massachusetts, United States.
JAKATAR BIENNALE 2015, Indonesia.
PHOTOQUAI - musée du quai Branly, Paris, France.
THE PINK CHOICE, Copenhagen, Denmark.
LIKE MY FATHER, Hanoi, Vietnam.
2014
FAMILY SNAP, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
DOCfield, Barcelona, Spain.
PRAGUE PRIDE, Czech Republic.
GETXOPHOTO, Bilbao, Spain.
CAN YOU SEE ME?, Singapore.
MADE IN ASIA, Toulouse, France.
2013
QUEER FESTIVAL, Florencia, Italy CHOBI MELA, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2012
THE PINK CHOICE, Goethe Institut, Hanoi, Vietnam. WORLD EVENT YOUNG ARTISTS, Nottingham, UK.
2009
EMERGENCY ROOM, Hanoi, Vietnam. CREATIVE ECONOMIES, Kulalumpur, Malaysia.
Experiences and Award:
2018
Nominated for the Elliott Erwitt Havana Club 7 Fellowship 2018.
Nominated for the Visionary Award 2018.
2017:
One of the six selected talents of the first 6x6 Global Talent Program in Southeast Asia & Oceania - an initiative organized by The World Press Photo.
2016
Participant in the Japan Foudation Asia Center's fellowship program in Japan.
2014
Maika's name is also honored in the Forbes Vietnam 30under30 list.
2013
Participant in the 2013 Joop Swart Masterclass.
The Pink Choice won 1st prize stories, Contemporary Issues, at World Press Photo 2013.
Chobi Mela Festival in Darka, Bangladesh.
2012
World Events Young Artist Festival in Nottingham, UK.
Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
2010
Angkor Photo Workshop in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Indochina Media Memorial Foundation (IMMF) workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam.
2009
Emergency Room exhibition format in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival Creative Economies workshop at the Asia-Europe Forum for Young Photographers in Kular Lumpur, Malaysia.
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