Page 25 - PHOTODOT 2017년 4월호 VOL.41 April

Featured 10,000 Homes and 10,000 Histories

Scales by Chuu Young-ho

Immersed in the camera
As a young boy and especially when he was a middle school student, Chuu Young-ho used to take
after his father whose hobby was taking pictures. When his father was absent, Chuu would take over
his father’s manual camera. He would swap in a new roll of film and leave home with it to photograph
mountains, fields, insects, and kids as they romped around. His father used to print a few rolls of film
at once which probably contained some of the pictures his son took. Chuu used to feel a thrill when
the landscapes he captured with the camera resulted in photographs. Despite majoring in electronic
engineering, he continued to have an interest in photography after entering university. He spent more
days taking pictures in the streets than staying in a laboratory. He always carried a camera around
with him and would use 100 rolls of film a month. Thanks to this, photography is the medium that is
most familiar to him.

Collecting the homes of the world with houses that cannot be found
After graduating, Chuu roamed about the world while taking pictures. Since returning to Korea he has
settled down in Gangnam, the southern area of Seoul. He established a commercial photo studio and
worked as a fashion photographer whose main clients were entertainers. He became a photographer
of some repute to not only fashion magazines but also the general public. All the same, he always felt a
sense of yearning to do his own distinctive work. He created unique artworks using his own mindset
and held solo shows while engaging in fashion photography. The exhibitions he has held include Ilsan,
Five Cities, Afterimages of Mo Bahc, and HO:LIM. After treading a tricky path between his identity as a
photographer and as an artist, the moment when he had to choose the path of an artist approached.
This occurred while Chuu was doing photographic work for the publication of the book A Journey in
Search of Korea’s Beauty by Bae Yong-joon, one of the most noted Korean actors. As the title suggests,
he traversed the entire nation in search of the beauty of Korea. One evening while driving home
after work, he had become riveted by a particular landscape. Smoke was rising from the chimneys of
houses that were lined up along the street and the warm light streaming out of them was evocative
of his childhood. The scene lingered in his mind long after his return to Seoul, triggering a longing for
the house he used to call home long ago. He tried to visit the houses he had once lived in with his
mother, but they no longer existed in this world. He felt as though his memories about those houses
had been completely stolen. From then on, he made up his mind to collect all the homes in the world.

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