Bay Lam or Tran Lam (his real name) was born in 1941 in Hau Giang province, but lives and works in Kien Giang. He is the former vice president of the People’s Committee of Kien Giang province.

Bay Lam is a photographer known for photos about nature, especially wild life, where many are in Vietnam’s red list of threatened species. His photos also capture the lives of people from all parts of Vietnam.

As a photographer who has won national and international prizes, Lam has published his photos in books to raise funds for the poor. These books include “Kien Giang, my homeland”, the foreword of which was written by late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, and “Tran Lam’s photo book”, which shows his deep love for the motherland.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, local officials and Tran Lam cut the ribbon to open the “Moments of Nature” exhibition. Photo: Cong Dat Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and officials at the exhibition. Photo: Cong Dat Photographic artist Tran Lam recieves an award from the International Photography Organization at the opening ceremony of the exihibition. Photo: Cong Dat Bay Lam speaks with the press after the exhibition's opening ceremony. Photo: Cong Dat "Moments of Nature" attracts a lot of visitors. Photo: Cong Dat

His latest photo book “Moments of Nature” also has a foreword written by a Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc. This book was displayed with 79 photos at an exhibition of the same name in Hanoi. The Moments of Nature exhibition held in October featured the life of endemic birds in Vietnam, particularly red-crowned cranes, to deliver a message of protecting the natural environment.

All the photos displayed at this exhibition and 3,000 copies of the book “Moments of Nature” were donated for sale to raise funds for poor patients.

This was one of many activities Lam has carried out to help poor people not only in Vietnam, but in Cambodia as well. So far, Lam has raised and donated hundreds of billions of dong for thousands of poor people in the two countries.

With his devotion to art and charity work, Bay Lam was awarded the title of Hero of Labor in 2008 by the President.

“Apart from his love for photography, Tran Lam is known for charity work under the name of Bay Lam. With his kindness and love, Lam and the Sponsor Association for Poor People in Kien Giang have brought happiness to many poor people. I respect so much what Bay Lam has done, sacrificing and devoting himself to his fellowmen and homeland,” Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc wrote in the preface for the book “Moments of Nature”.

Some of the photos displayed at "Moments of Nature"

Bay Lam’s photo “Shining sun at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum” was sold for 1 million US dollars. The proceeds were donated to the Sponsor Association for Poor People in Kien Giang to fund heart surgery for 500 poor children in the Mekong delta.