Sensation Photography: Between or Border

Koreans who live in other countries range from first-generation immigrants who left their homeland a long time ago to third- or fourth-generation Koreans who may have seen Korea only on a map. A large portion of these individuals doesn’t speak Korean and often aren’t interested in the Korean culture. Still, we habitually refer to them as “Koreans.” This mentality is not unique to Korea.

Last year, we focused on issues of identity, diaspora and boundaries for our photography book, “Between or Border”. Working on this book gave us the impression that the process of a language, or a culture taking root in another society, was an issue that is separate from the concept of identity itself.

The exhibition is divided into two part, all photographers in 1st section, talk about ‘outsiders’ or ‘strangers’ and show how their interpretation varies depending on where they are located. In 2nd section will be showed urbanity especially Seoul. All photographers are different nationality-but they just focused on city of ‘Seoul’. We invite our viewers to join us as we explore this line of thought.

Shen Xuezhe is Chinese-Korean and lives in Yanbian, the Korean autonomous prefecture that is home to this community in the northeastern Jilin Province in China. His series, “Tumen River on the Border,” captures scenery along the banks of the Tumen River, which flows between China, North Korea and Russia.

Dongkeun Lee was raised in the Korean Peninsula and has no personal experience of diaspora. His series, “An Invitation,” documents the modern phenomenon of Korean men seeking wives abroad.

Sperling Kim was born in 1975 in Korea, though a family in Germany adopted him. His series, “Uri Nara (our country),” was personal in subject, and consisted of a series of portraits of adult Korean adoptees who grew up in the West but decided to return to Korea permanently.

Alan Eglinton was born in the East of England and lived in France for 26 years, but is currently based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Through the interplay of photographs and writings, his projects explore the themes of home, belonging and emigration.

Jinhee Bae has focused on generation, identity, and custom in everyday life.

Extraordinary Project Team supports photography-based artists and promotes art programmes by MUG Publishing, a Seoul-based art book publish company focusing on photography and illustrations, printed matter and more. Founded by Jin Hee Bae in 2008, we have been fortunate enough to work with fantastic individuals and organizations in art, culture, education, and corporate fields. We curate exhibitions and manage art education programmes specifically for junior high school students.

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