About Tuyet Van Truster

Born in Paris, of Vietnamese descent, Tuyet Van Truster is an instant film photographer currently based in Jersey City, USA. 

Truster began practicing photography as a fun family activity and casual pass time, a hobby which eventually evolved into a burning artistic passion and a love for the tactile qualities and experimental possibilities present in film photography. She describes developing a yearning for the sound of the shutter button, the rolling out of the image, and for the mystery, anticipation, and excitement of the photo development process.

Having a scientific background, Truster likes to test the boundaries between control and unpredictability. Some images are corroded with different chemicals, altered by time in order to explore the notions of reverie, identity, memory and wonder. 

 

Website: www.tuyettruster.com/

 

Artist Statement

My work explores the ludic intersection of Polaroid photography, dreamlike imagination, memory and the fleeting moments of happiness that color our lives.

I am drawn to the raw, tangible quality of instant film: it develops before your eyes, unedited, unfiltered—a quiet anticipation, a mix of hope and nervousness. But I am not interested in preserving reality as it is. Each Polaroid is a raw material, a malleable object. The emulsion, the texture, the chemistry are disrupted; sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically. Faces blur, landscapes ripple, colors bleed and collapse. What was once a captured instant becomes unstable—evocative of memory, dream, or emotion. 

The resulting images are small windows into a world shaped by fun and emotional spontaneity—visual echoes of moments that no longer exist, transformed by hand and by time. I’m inspired by childhood wonder, surreal daydreams, and the strange joy found in everyday beauty. 

My Polaroid manipulations are experiments in impermanence and transformation—reminders that images, like memories, can shift, fade, and be reshaped.

 

Exhibitions

  • Iso600 International Instant Exhibition, Galleria Fotografica Paoletti, Bologna, Italy –October 3rd – 5th, 2025
  • The Beauty of Imperfection,  iFocus Photo Gallery, Athens International Polaroid Festival, Greece – March 28th – April 2nd, 2025