Dematteis, Lou. A Portrait of Viet Nam by Lou Dematteis. Foreword by Oliver Stone.

Epilogue by Le Ly Hayslip. W.W. Norton & Co., 1996. First edition, first printing. 128 pages, illustrated with very well reproduced color photographs by Dematteis.  Hardcover in red cloth with protected dust jacket, fine with very good dust jacket that has a crimp on rear cover near top. Scans with this listing were made with the dust jacket protector on.  Summary:

A Portrait of Viet Nam (1996) by photojournalist Lou Dematteis is a poignant visual documentation of a nation in transition. After years of covering the wars in Central America, Dematteis traveled to Vietnam to capture the country not as a "war," but as a "place." The book serves as a bridge between the trauma of the past and the "Doi Moi" (renovation) era of the 1990s, when Vietnam began opening its doors to the world.

Core Themes and Narrative

• The "Human" Victory: Dematteis consciously moves away from the "combat photography" tropes that defined Vietnam in the Western imagination. His focus is on the daily lives of the people—farmers, street vendors, and the younger generation—demonstrating a resilient culture that survives long after the soldiers have left.

• Reconciliation and Return: The book features powerful encounters between former enemies. Dematteis captures American veterans returning to the sites of their trauma, meeting with North Vietnamese soldiers in a spirit of shared humanity and healing.

• The Transition to Modernity: Published in 1996, the book captures the "Liminal" moment when traditional water-buffalo agriculture began to coexist with the arrival of motorcycles, Coca-Cola signs, and global trade.

Visual and Technical Style

• The "Environmental" Portrait: Dematteis utilizes a warm, naturalistic color palette. His "finish" is unpretentious and intimate, often using available light to capture the texture of the Vietnamese landscape—the mist in the rice paddies and the vibrant chaos of Hanoi’s Old Quarter.

• Oliver Stone’s "Political" Lens: The foreword by filmmaker Oliver Stone adds a layer of cinematic gravitas, framing the photographs as an essential "correction" to the Hollywood-ized version of the country’s history.

• Lou Dematteis (born 1948) is an American photojournalist, documentary filmmaker, and activist known for his immersive coverage of political conflict, human rights abuses, and environmental devastation across Latin America and the United States. Raised in Palo Alto, California, Dematteis spent over six years as a staff photographer for United Press International (UPI) in San Francisco before embarking on extensive freelance assignments throughout Central and South America. In 1986, while covering the Contra War in Nicaragua, he captured world-exclusive photographs of downed American mercenary Eugene Hasenfus following the shootdown of his cargo plane—pivotal images that provided early concrete evidence of illegal U.S. government involvement and helped expose the Iran-Contra affair. Dematteis spent over fifteen years documenting the devastating social and ecological impact of crude oil extraction in the Ecuadorian Amazon, culminating in his acclaimed 2008 photobook and traveling exhibition Crude Reflections: How Texaco's Pollution Has Impacted the People and Environmental Health of the Amazon. His humanistic approach—spanning major projects in Vietnam, Italy, and San Francisco's Mission District—has earned numerous awards, including the World Press Photo award, cementing his legacy as a vital visual advocate for social and environmental justice.