Impressionism, From Photography to Painting

Does Impressionist photography exist? This question is at the center of Réhahn’s book Impressionism: From Photography to Painting. Rather than a theoretical essay on art history, the book follows the journey of a photographer who examines his practice through the filter of Impressionism. At the crossroads of painting and photography, the images reveal a search for emotion guided by light, color and fleeting moments.

After completing his mission for the Precious Heritage Project and Cultural Museum, focused on Vietnam’s ethnic groups, Réhahn turned toward his cultural roots. His research brought him back to Honfleur, on the Normandy coast of France, where he spent part of his childhood and where the Impressionist movement began. From there, and later in Hoi An in Vietnam, he deepened his interest in nature, bright tones and changing light, finding parallels between the countryside of Asia and the landscapes that inspired painters such as Monet, Pissarro and Van Gogh.

All of the photographs from this Impressionist series were created in and around Hoi An. Instead of relying on filters or heavy digital retouching, Réhahn chose to use nature itself as his main tool. Reflections on water, distortion created by heat or smoke, rain in the frame and the blur of movement all contribute to images that sometimes look almost like paintings. Bright complementary colors, pastoral scenes and everyday subjects echo the spirit of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masters while remaining rooted in contemporary photography.

The book also acknowledges the influence of Japonism on composition. Inspired by the way artists such as Degas borrowed from Japanese prints, Réhahn explores off-center framing, flat areas of color and the use of empty space. These choices give the photographs a tension and invite the viewer to look slowly, noticing how light shapes the scene.

In July 2025, Sylvain Amic, then President of the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie, wrote to Réhahn that he had read Impressionism: From Photography to Painting “with pleasure and interest” and congratulated him on the sincerity of his approach. Coming from a specialist of Impressionist painting, this recognition gives the project resonance.

Impressionism: From Photography to Painting is a meaningful gift for anyone who loves art, photography or Vietnam. The book can live on a coffee table or a desk, where its images may be opened again and again, offering small moments of reflection through color, light and the dialogue between past and present.