Writing by Mimi Park

A Group Fashion Photo Exhibition by Jinyong Kim, Jinwoo Park, Jinhyuk Oh, Kove Lee, Chan Rim

Among the rain and lights, I saw the figure 5 in gold…. —-William Carlos Williams

“The viewer...should enter my work through their own eyes, and their own lives” - Wolfgang Tillmans

Here are five Korean fashion photographers: Jinyong Kim, Jinwoo Park, Jinhyuk Oh, Kove Lee, Chan Rim. These young, multi-talented photographers have been working with diverse fashion brands and magazines. Jinhyuk Oh, one of the photographers in this show, is also the director of N/A gallery in Seoul and co-curated this show. In this group exhibition, we show both their work with fashion brands and their personal work.

Irving Penn once described his role as “selling dreams, not clothes.” Is it dreams or clothes? These five young photographers have worked in a constant tension between the demands of commerce and their own artistic visions. Since as early as Edward Steichen, fashion photography has been in the hands of most talented photographers. The accurate assessment of their artistry has often been neglected because it belonged to the world of commerce. Fashion photographers stand on the boundaries; they have constantly pushed boundaries. And the tension between artistic and commercial demands has pushed their creativity and technological innovation even further. If it is dreams they are selling, whose dreams are they selling? Whose dreams do we see in their work?

Photography as a medium is at its peak these days. Social media is flooded with photos; everyone takes pictures like a photographer. At the same time, many fashion brands' campaigns are moving to video, and magazines are expanding their reach to online platforms and apps. At a time when significant changes are happening at a frightening pace, five photographers, the images of themselves as shining as one powerful image, like the mysterious number 5 on a firetruck traveling through the dark and noisy city.