There's something so remarkable about this photo. Taken at Vũng Tàu beach in Vietnam on January 7, 1970, it was submitted by Jean Tran, the granddaughter of the man in the photo, a former Japanese linguistics teacher and avid hobbyist photographer who spent most of his life behind the lens rather than in front of it.
This day, that changed. When he finally stepped into the frame, he didn't hold back. It was his moment to shine. There aren't just one or two shots of him – there are three, layered through what seems to be multiple print processes, his face floating twice above the shot of himself sitting in the sand. How he pulled it off on film remains a mystery. Did someone lend him a hand, or had he been waiting to solo experiment for a while?
"It reveals a playful, artistic side of him," Jean wrote. "What a diva!"
This is the kind of photo we live for. It uncovers something about a person that you would have never known, something they never quite said out loud, or maybe never even thought would be seen by another soul. A hidden personality, waiting in a shoebox or tucked in a photo album, just waiting to be found.
Come see this photo and others at our community summer family gallery show "That Summer Feeling" in person at PhotoLounge, opening June 26th, 2026.