A 23 year-old Vietnamese supermodel’s nude photos have caused public controversy, but this matters little to Ngoc Quyen who says the cause is more important than any personal publicity.
Ngoc Quyen posing after the controversy has subsided
In a recent interview with DTiNews, Ngoc Quyen said she was completely happy with the photo collection which highlighted the threat to the natural environment, and that the negative reaction had helped her learn from the experience.
Quyen said the “mocking use of the ‘nude model for environment’ tag doesn’t bother me as I’m a model and I can continue my fashion career producing photos.”
In late March, Ngoc Quyen published a set of completely nude photos which she took in the woods of Moc Chau plateau in the northern province of Son La. She denies the shoot was a cheap publicity stunt, “Look at what’s behind me, not my body. That’s the untouched and beautiful natural landscape. It can remain beautiful like that forever if we know how to preserve it,” Quyen said.
“It’s important to see the positive side of something. If you only focus on the negative side, everything that is good can become bad,” she said.
Currently, Quyen is focusing on fashion shows, and wants to find a suitable role, preferably a darker character in a feature film.
Public controversy
Quyen continues to defend the photos, saying they were her way of calling for public attention to protect the environment to prevent natural disasters.
However, Quyen’s photos were heavily criticised, with many people saying that it was purely for self-publicity and that the photos had been Photoshopped rather than the model actually doing the shoot on location.
The Vietnam News Agency cited Chu Thom, an official from the Performing Art Agency, as saying that, “Her face is so cold, unlike traditional Vietnamese women. I think pictures for the environment must touch viewers’ hearts and arouse viewers’ pity for the victims of floods and natural disasters or cancer, but not in the way Ngoc Quyen posed.”
Lawyer Le Dang Tung from the Truong Giang Law Office in Hanoi said that nude photos that are not pornographic but they should only be circulated in ways suitable to the traditions and moral values of Vietnam.
Bui Ngoc Diep from the Institute for Educational Sciences of Vietnam said the photos could have a negative influence on people’s feelings.
Ngoc Quyen in one of her controversial shoots
Ngoc Quyen in recent photoshoots
