Hien Lam Duc was nine years old when he left his fee-paying school to become an apprentice mechanic, working with devices. At age 12, he fled to Thailand with his parents and five brothers and sisters, encountering the security towers of refugee camp ghettos. This period was to leave its mark on the young adolescent. Two years later, with the help of the Enfants du Mékong association, he and his family found themselves at Charles de Gaulle airport. After earning a Bac D diploma, he enrolled in university, and then in fine arts school in Lyon. There, he discovered the humanitarian association Equilibre – the perfect chance to travel! He began accompanying convoys, travel diary in hand. His trip to Romania was a revelation: he came across a place where children were literally sent to die. "A journalist had asked me to take photos. I wasn't worried about the technical aspect, but rather about the emotion. The subject affected me. To show something real, you need to be close to the subject. In the Kurdish camps, for example, I understood the refugees, even without speaking their language." Through his photographs, Hien felt as though he were rediscovering himself. This was the deep-seated motivation that led him to criss-cross the planet. His photos as a freelance photographer were published in Libération, Photographie Magazine, La Croix and Géo, among others. In 1992 and 1993, he was coauthor of Graines d’Hommes and author of Roumanie, les Gamins du Pavé, published by Anako. Produced in Southeast Asia and subsidized by the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation, his report on following in the footsteps of his ancestors was published in Géo and has been shown at several festivals.

Achievements since winning the grant
In 1998-1999, Hien Lam Duc left for Iraq and Kosovo, and took his first photos of refugees in Albania, which were published in Paris Match, L’Evénement, Libération and La Croix. He published Le Jardin des Murmures with Anako (reports from Iraq); Enfances, Enfances with Liana Levi (images of children from around the world); and Carnets de Visite with Nathan (a joint report with the Little Brothers of the Poor on the elderly).
In 1999, he participated in a poster campaign for Action Against Hunger.
In 2001, he was awarded the World Press first prize in the Portrait category. The same year, he brought out FACES with publisher Anako.
In 2002, he exhibited a report on young Afghan refugees for Médecins du Monde.
In 2005, Hien Lam Duc exhibited his report Le Mékong à Hauteur d’Eau at the Chroniques Nomades festival in Honfleur.
In 2006, a 52-minute documentary, Le Mékong et le Photographe, produced in cooperation with Gérard Milhès, was broadcast on Arte. The same year, he showed Portraits-Mékong at the Museum of Ethnography in Hanoi, Vietnam.