We have reached this point based on our ever-forward-looking desire to represent photography as contemporary art. Looking back over the last seven years, I find my own desire to challenge prejudice and lack of understanding regarding photography in the art market a little ridiculous, but I think this lack of fear is what allowed us to get where we are today. Nonetheless, it seems we still have a lot to do, which makes me glad. We are now holding the second Encounters between Korean Modern and Contemporary Photography exhibition, following that of 2013. We have planned an exhibition of works by third-generation Korean photo artists Koo Bon-chang and Min Byung-hun on the theme, “Korean analogue photography in the present.” This exhibition is also partly aimed at discovering the reason for the glacial state of analogue photography collection in the Korean art market. Having regarded supporting photography as contemporary art, and contemporary photo artists, as our most pressing issue, it seems we should now take on a new challenge. We never aimed only to include digital work, but today, when the photography industry has become digitalised, it seems there is also a need to reawaken people to the value of printed works. We want to bring the works of these photographers back into the spotlight; introduce their analogue works; show how they constitute the third generation of Korean photo artists, following in the footsteps of the first and second generations; and create new awareness by showing the analogue works of this third generation.

The past is a sample of the present. To say that today could never have existed without yesterday is to state the obvious. Observing the circumstances in which the first generation of photo artists worked, then exploring the thought systems of the third generation, presents chances for comparison. I think comparing these differences will be extremely helpful in providing the creativity needed to embrace today’s challenges in new ways.

Though our predecessors, the first generation of Korean photo artists, did not enjoy the abundance that we do today, they were at the forefront of creativity in their time. Their works are the products of extremely hard effort in limited circumstances. Many of their works have not been preserved until now, however – we can only be thankful that at least some of them have survived, allowing us a sense of the kinds of creative activity in progress during their era. We want to show off these analogue photo artworks, still isolated from today’s collection culture through lack of awareness. Our hope is to raise a new issue, namely, that of Korean analogue photography in the present, while reflecting on the fact Korea’s complicated modern history has prevented proper preservation of the works of its first generation of photo artists.

In today’s photo industry, all media required for analogue photography are on the way to total collapse. Hardly any film, printing paper or chemicals are now produced. It seems these things, all of which enabled us to reach today’s age of digital imagery, are about to simply disappear before we have a chance to express our thanks and praise for them. Trunk Gallery will do its best to make sure that this does not happen.

Korea’s modern photo artworks are still hidden deep in the photo boxes of each artist. This is a real shame. Collectors are actively buying such works at international auction houses. Korean collectors, however, are not doing very much. Perhaps due to insufficient awareness, their reaction to photo artworks is frigid. As chemical images invented in response to hand-painted images, analogue photographs are worthy of praise in their own right; in spite of this, however, their future is uncertain. The theme “the present of Korean analogue photography,” then, presents a new challenge.

In January 2013, Trunk Gallery brought together photographers Min Chung-sik, Hyeon Il-yeong, Kang Un-gu and Ju Myeong-deok. This exhibition demonstrated the kind of second generation produced by Korea’s first generation of photographers. This year’s January exhibition compares the thought behind the still life works of Jung Hai-chang and Koo Bon-chang, offering a glimpse of their stylistic differences. The February exhibition introduces the nude works of Seo Sun-sam and Min Byung-hun, promising to offer a very interesting glimpse of the differences in thought behind the treatment of women’s bodies by artists of different generations.

Koo Bon-chang and Min Byung-hun, who still insist on producing analogue prints, are adamant that their deep flavours are needed to deliver the essence, content and effects of each image. This is what makes us all the more keen to show off the beauty that these artists attempt to convey through their works. In today’s reality, analogue photographs are more valuable than ever. We also want to prompt the right questions about collecting such works.
- Trunk Gallery Park Youngsook

*image (left)
A woman's appearance from behind
gelatin silver print, 16x20inch.
© Hye Chang Chung
courtesy of the artist and Trunk Gallery