A Photographic Practice Rooted in Memory and Place

Emoi Studio, founded by Hai-Ly Luu.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

I photograph weddings the way I studied language, by looking for the true meaning underneath the surface.

Emoi began as a one-person practice in Hanoi, and has grown into an atelier of visual artists with whom I have deliberately chosen. We accept a select number of commissions each year not because of positioning, but because I shoot every wedding personally. My process — a pre-session research consultation with each couple and an analog film workflow — takes real time to do properly.

Our studio isn’t for everyone. It is meant for people who want their photographs to hold something sincere and from the heart; whether that’s their own family’s and culture’s story, or their genuine connection to a place that isn’t originally theirs.

 

THE MEDIUM

The studio prioritizes analog, including 35mm, 120, and Super 8 celluloid motion film.

Film asks for patience most digital processes have removed: Waiting, not knowing exactly what you’ll get until later, through a slow and precise manual process. That small delay mirrors how our memory actually works — images being imperfect, flickering, and yet warm. We develop and scan these film rolls by hand, and every image becomes part of a physical archive a family can hold, not just a file that can be erased.

 

THE METHODOLOGY

For our studio, a wedding is one of the last modern rituals in which sacredness is still permitted to enter ordinary life. We are drawn to unscripted moments that can’t be art-directed: The ones where time pauses.

Every commission begins with a research consultation. For some couples, this means their culture and family’s story, migration, a specific street corner, scent, or type of light that carry their memories. For others, it means what drew them to Vietnam in the first place, what they were hoping to find here. From that conversation, couples receive a Narrative Guide document — a short, written piece connecting their story to actual historical elements, built for them and no one else.

Discretion is central to how we work. Nothing is published without explicit permission, and formal NDAs are available on request.

 

THE STUDIO MEMBERS

I don’t work alone anymore, but I choose who I work with carefully. Each artist brings their own distinct, intuitive art direction to our atelier.

Hai-Ly Luu
Founder, Photographer & Artist-Researcher
I started photography at the same time I was trained in linguistics — Hanoi University, Vietnam, then Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal. Both taught me the same thing: meaning lies beneath the surface, and you need to be patient for it to reveal itself. Every session starts with listening — to a couple’s story, their culture, to an indescribable pull to a place they haven’t visited yet or haven’t visited again, not just aesthetic preferences. My practice centers on analog mediums to explore memory and longing.

Hoang-Anh Nguyen
Cinematographer & Editor
A Francophone alumnus of the Hanoi Academy of Theatre and Cinema. Moving between lighting, editing, and direction of photography, his visual style leans into stillness: The kind of frame that slows you down and helps you notice what you are feeling, rather than asking for your attention.

Thu Ngoc-Ha Le
Cultural Consultant & Stylist
Thu’s foundation is in fashion design; she won the Redress Design Award, and has spoken at global sustainability summits. She now collaborates directly with me as cultural consultant and stylist, bringing her trained eye into how each story unfolds, whether in texture, garment, or color combination.

Dinh-Quan Nguyen
Film Director & Cinematographer
Trained in Paris (EICAR) and Berlin (Catalyst Institute for Creative Arts and Technology), Quan brings a distinctly cross-continental eye — Vietnamese, French, German — to his directing and cinematography. His films favor emotional discretion over spectacle: He’s drawn to the quiet minute, wherever it falls; whether it is writing vows alone, or the breath before tears at the altar.

Jocelyn Mai Bui
Makeup Artist
Studied in Australia and a graduate of Vietnam’s Foreign Trade University, Jocelyn brings a quiet approach to bridal makeup. Her signature is restraint — nothing overdone.