Abstract of the accomplished photographic work
Through Drift Bottle, I examine my personal issues through the lens of others’ suffering. The photographs are taken on full moon nights in the empty outskirts of the city. The locations of these photographs progress from areas surrounding banners put up by a stranger in search of a missing daughter (2019–2020) to neighborhoods undergoing redevelopment—places where the missing individuals once lived and were last seen (2020–2022), and finally to the island where my estranged family resides (2023–2024).
I approach photography as a personal ritual, returning to the same places in cycles to capture images. In this process, the photographs resemble The Blind Leading the Blind. While a destination exists, the images do not move toward it but instead trace endless wandering along its periphery, revealing the gaze that lingers within. Through this drifting flow, I sought to construct a fictional space-time where reality and ideal, past and present, and absence and memory intertwine.
Description of the project you intend to pursue through the Prize
Since 2019, I have been examining broken familial ties that stem from my religious upbringing. I was raised in a minority faith often regarded by the public as a “cult,” and had to confront my family’s disintegration to leave that world.
My current goal is to investigate its sources in relation to larger social structures, whereas my previous work aimed to comprehend the suffering I experienced. In light of this, the subject of my current project is South Korean church buildings and the red crosses affixed to their roofs.
This project continues my exploration of how religious symbols alter urban landscapes through long exposure and night photography. In the Drift Bottle series, I captured a sense of discomfort and strangeness by photographing a church blazing red in the dark. I feel the same unease and anxiety others once projected onto my own faith when I see ordinary churches.
The book, approximately 120 pages in a 30cm x 18cm vertical format, will reflect both personal narrative.