Retrotopia, Seoul (2021 ~ Present)
As I walk through Seoul, I often find myself going to Euljiro. The area has a distinct smell and form, giving off the feeling of a Pandora’s box filled with myths that continue to live in the present, just as they were in the past. When I walk alone through the alleys on a dark night, I’m often enveloped by its unique scent, and in the stillness, the atmosphere of the winding alleys begins to reveal itself, sometimes sending chills down my spine. Since then, I’ve been looking for the unique stench, outlines, and colors of these Seoul streets. In this way, we all experience and live in Seoul in our own ways and from our own perspectives.
Although South Korea has a long and rich history, it has suffered many invasions, and through those turbulent times, much of its historical materials were lost — including records that could have helped us understand our traditional aesthetic sensibilities. Today, we can only infer the flow of korean traditional aesthetics through a few remaining historical examples. This contrasts with Japan’s well-known aesthetic, ‘Mono no aware (物の哀れ)’, which has been passed down consistently through the generations.
Reflecting on the general sentiment of traditional Korean aesthetics, one might think of ‘Han (恨)’ — a concept that transcends contradiction to uncover a subtle form of beauty. ‘Han (恨)’ carries within it sorrow and negativity, but at the moment it is sublimated, it becomes beautiful.
At some point, I became fascinated by the unpredictable elements of the streets and began to explore the moments when the aesthetics of ‘Han (恨)’ emerge. When I observe people living within the dark back alleys, the wide boulevards lined with high-rises, or its old traditional markets, I feel love for them, fear the violence of the city, and feel the loneliness of being left behind and the nostalgia for days gone by.
In photography, there is light and shadow. If it extend this to the real world, it shows dualities such as day and night, truth and falsehood — contradiction but always accompany each other. Likewise, within the city, there are places being newly born, while others remain as old alleyways. These places — strange and lonely, yet familiar and comforting — are what I believe make up the Seoul we live in. Through this project, I explore the moments when the ordinary and seemingly insignificant elements of life naturally come together.
