[Gallery Talk] Analog photography making a comeback
This is the eighth in a 10-part series on prominent art galleries in Korea. – Ed
The Museum of Photography, Seoul, situated on the 19th and 20th floors of Hanmi Tower in Bangi-dong, eastern Seoul, is Korea’s first government-authorized private museum for photography.
Song Young-sook, the founder and chief director of the museum, established it in 2002 after many twists and turns.
“Government officials did not approve it at first, saying that they do not recognize the value of photos as art. They even mocked it saying, ‘Why don’t you just collect cameras?’” said Song.
“So I opened a non-profit gallery instead and held exhibitions and supported photographers without selling or buying any works. When I went back to register as a museum after few years, many intellects and artists supported me. I finally got an approval.”
But because Song is the wife of Lim Sung-ki, president of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co., some could harbor a prejudice that the museum is just a hobby for yet another rich and famous lady. But knowing Song’s past, that is certainly not the case.
After falling in love with photography as a teenager, Song spent nearly 40 years of her life as a photographer. She was a member of the photography club in Sookmyung Women’s University which turned out many of Korea’s famous female photographers. Although Song is now fully focusing on her role as a director rather than going on photo shoots, she said that someday she will return to being a photographer.
“Photographers need to take care of everything within one 115th of a second. In many cases, a single photo tells more about history than writing on tens of pages of paper. And also in many cases, photography is art while it is also a record of history. That is why I think artists should come down and be with the people, especially with the poor,” said Song.
But for now, she has so many agendas for the museum such as collecting works, categorizing them and publishing a book on the history of Korean photography.
“We have thousands of valuable photos from Korea’s modern times to the present. The original photos of Joseon’s last royal household from 1897 to 1910 at the exhibition ‘Portraits of the Great Korean Imperial Family’ last year were straight from our collections, too. Our researchers are continuously conducting studies to write history on Korean photography,” said Song.
Led by the museum, more photography museums have emerged in the past few years. Photography has taken root as a proper genre of art and the public‘s interest in photography is greatly growing as digital cameras become widespread.
“It is a good thing, in a way, but also a scary phenomenon. It has become hard to sort out authentic photos from fake ones and many professional photographers are losing their status. If they want to survive, they should really work hard and not turn to digital cameras just because they are simple and easy. Analog photos like gelatin silver prints are coming back,” said Song.
“Analog photos are of a totally different level from digital photos. They never fade away. I am always on the lookout for good analog photos. I don’t care if the artist is not yet famous. It’s like a treasure hunt. I recently found some beautiful analog works by a Japanese photographer at the Tokyo Art Fair. So I asked around and finally got in touch with her. Discussions are underway to open an exhibition on her works next year.”
Another recent trend is that artists of other genres are crossing the border to photography, Song noted.
“Many sculptors, especially, have become photographers, including Jeong Yeon-doo, Go Myung-keun and Jang Seung-hyo. Their works are unique, different from people who start out as photographers. They seem to be able to see objects from more varied angles,” she said.
Song established the Hanmi Photography Award in 2006 to discover and award talented photographers but the award stopped last year, because there was no one that was worth being awarded, said Song.
“The prize will be resumed when a talented photographer appears. For now, however, we are using the fund for research. I hope to open a separate museum for modern photographs in the near future.”
For more information on The Museum of Photography, Seoul, call (02) 418-1315 or visit www.photomuseum.or.kr.
By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)
The Museum of Photography, Seoul, situated on the 19th and 20th floors of Hanmi Tower in Bangi-dong, eastern Seoul, is Korea’s first government-authorized private museum for photography.
Song Young-sook, the founder and chief director of the museum, established it in 2002 after many twists and turns.
“Government officials did not approve it at first, saying that they do not recognize the value of photos as art. They even mocked it saying, ‘Why don’t you just collect cameras?’” said Song.
“So I opened a non-profit gallery instead and held exhibitions and supported photographers without selling or buying any works. When I went back to register as a museum after few years, many intellects and artists supported me. I finally got an approval.”
But because Song is the wife of Lim Sung-ki, president of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co., some could harbor a prejudice that the museum is just a hobby for yet another rich and famous lady. But knowing Song’s past, that is certainly not the case.
After falling in love with photography as a teenager, Song spent nearly 40 years of her life as a photographer. She was a member of the photography club in Sookmyung Women’s University which turned out many of Korea’s famous female photographers. Although Song is now fully focusing on her role as a director rather than going on photo shoots, she said that someday she will return to being a photographer.
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| Song Young-sook, founder and chief director of the Museum of Photography, Seoul Park Hae-mook/ The Korea Herald |
“Photographers need to take care of everything within one 115th of a second. In many cases, a single photo tells more about history than writing on tens of pages of paper. And also in many cases, photography is art while it is also a record of history. That is why I think artists should come down and be with the people, especially with the poor,” said Song.
But for now, she has so many agendas for the museum such as collecting works, categorizing them and publishing a book on the history of Korean photography.
“We have thousands of valuable photos from Korea’s modern times to the present. The original photos of Joseon’s last royal household from 1897 to 1910 at the exhibition ‘Portraits of the Great Korean Imperial Family’ last year were straight from our collections, too. Our researchers are continuously conducting studies to write history on Korean photography,” said Song.
Led by the museum, more photography museums have emerged in the past few years. Photography has taken root as a proper genre of art and the public‘s interest in photography is greatly growing as digital cameras become widespread.
“It is a good thing, in a way, but also a scary phenomenon. It has become hard to sort out authentic photos from fake ones and many professional photographers are losing their status. If they want to survive, they should really work hard and not turn to digital cameras just because they are simple and easy. Analog photos like gelatin silver prints are coming back,” said Song.
“Analog photos are of a totally different level from digital photos. They never fade away. I am always on the lookout for good analog photos. I don’t care if the artist is not yet famous. It’s like a treasure hunt. I recently found some beautiful analog works by a Japanese photographer at the Tokyo Art Fair. So I asked around and finally got in touch with her. Discussions are underway to open an exhibition on her works next year.”
Another recent trend is that artists of other genres are crossing the border to photography, Song noted.
“Many sculptors, especially, have become photographers, including Jeong Yeon-doo, Go Myung-keun and Jang Seung-hyo. Their works are unique, different from people who start out as photographers. They seem to be able to see objects from more varied angles,” she said.
Song established the Hanmi Photography Award in 2006 to discover and award talented photographers but the award stopped last year, because there was no one that was worth being awarded, said Song.
“The prize will be resumed when a talented photographer appears. For now, however, we are using the fund for research. I hope to open a separate museum for modern photographs in the near future.”
For more information on The Museum of Photography, Seoul, call (02) 418-1315 or visit www.photomuseum.or.kr.
By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)
