Page 36 - PHOTODOT 2017년 7월호 VOL.44 Jul

짝-패 Interracial Couple, 2002, 152x195cm, Achival Pigment Print

What are the things that have influenced your photography so far?
When I could not satisfy my curiosity about photography, I went to
the bookstore to read art-related books and other books to look
for an answer. If I could not find a seat, I sat down or leaned against
the bookshelf to read books. When I think about it, those times
helped me a lot along the way. Also, my dad worked on caligraphy
and oriental painting. I used to grind ink stone for him because I
was the youngest. The time I spent grinding ink stone sitting beside
my father and watching him write caligraphy or work on paint-
ing influenced me greatly. However, most of all, it was a feeling
of desperation and deficiency that allowed me to produce good
photographs. I took the photographs in <Jjak-pae> at places where
the models lived. Also, I used subways instead of taxi in order to
save money, carrying the heavy camera and the equipment on my
shoulders. I used to carry on my shoulder two big bags containing
8x10 inch Deardorf camera, which was a darling of photographer
at the time although not produced today, and a large strobe lighting
equipment and accessories, pushing a art with light stand and other
camera equipment. They weighed almost 50 kilograms. They were
so heavy that I had to stop routinely to rest.
Since the birth of photography, portrait photography was a favorite
of countless photographers. From the beginning, great photogra-
phers in history made countless portrait photographs. How is your
work different from theirs?
I am not them, so there are things that are different from their
works in terms of form and contents. I think you discover your
own things as you explore yourself and try to discover yourself,
keep thinking about by asking questions like “Who am I?” “Where
did I come from?” When I work on my portrait photography, I
often should to myself “Face it!” I hate talking about the world in a
dishonest way. Sometimes I just try to create a work that is suffi-
cient based on its content regardless of form. However, what I try
to do is to create a work that people can look at and say that the
work matches the photographer.
짝-패 Interracial Couple, 2000, 152X195cm, Achival Pigment Print

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