The GoEun Museum of Photography in Busan is presenting the 14th Artist of the Year Exhibition in collaboration with KT&G Sangsangmadang. Running from December 20, 2024, to February 7, 2025, this exhibition celebrates the innovative works of three outstanding photographers: Lee Soen, Min Hye Ryoung, and Lee Seung Jae. Selected for their experimental approach and commitment to photographic authenticity, these artists redefine personal narratives and invite audiences to explore new dimensions of the medium.

Since its inception in 2012, the Artist of the Year program has sought to discover and support emerging talents who push the boundaries of photography. This year’s selection focuses on works that transform deeply personal experiences into visual stories, examining themes of change, repetition, and the connection between fragments of everyday life.

Min Hye Ryoung’s The Hours Breathe captures the subtle portraits of objects within a transformed domestic environment. Her work reflects a life altered by childbirth and relocation, as she returned to Korea with two children after 16 years in New York. Her photographs, taken during the children’s naptime, use soft lighting to imbue everyday objects with new identities. Household items pause their original functions and interact with the artist’s gaze, embodying the emotional shifts tied to her role as a mother.

Min’s work encapsulates fleeting moments of estrangement and adaptation, capturing how societal norms and personal realities intersect. The still-life compositions—both the slumbering children and their surrounding objects—become metaphors for her evolving perception of life and motherhood.

Lee Soen’s Drift Bottle began with a haunting encounter with banners searching for a girl who had gone missing 25 years ago. Following the banner’s trail to Pyeongtaek, he committed to photographing the area under the full moon each month. Using a large-format film camera, Lee’s process required hours of exposure in darkness, transforming photography into a ritual of patience and introspection.

This journey paralleled Lee’s personal history, marked by his departure from a family deeply rooted in a minority religion. By reconnecting with places tied to his memories—Seoul, Pyeongtaek, and finally Jeju, where his family resides—Lee intertwines the stories of the missing girl and his estranged family. His photographs become metaphors for loss, reconciliation, and the cyclical nature of grief.

Lee Seung Jae’s Animal Response explores the uncanny nature of animal taxidermy and models encountered in daily life. Starting with a fascination for their peculiar presence in mundane settings, Lee’s photographs link these objects to broader narratives. His intuitive approach, reminiscent of street photography, captures specific yet subtle details within vast landscapes.

Drawing connections between these snapshots, Lee employs free association, akin to a Rorschach test. His Animal Response series suggests that the imagery we perceive reflects internal states, blending psychological inquiry with creative freedom. By juxtaposing and layering photographs, Lee creates evolving narratives that defy conventional constraints, embodying a playful yet profound engagement with photography.

Together, the three artists transcend the traditional confines of photography, merging personal stories with experimental techniques. Their works propose new ways of interpreting texts, images, and relationships between photographs, challenging the medium’s conventional boundaries.

The Artist of the Year Exhibition offers a rare opportunity to witness how photography can bridge personal introspection and universal narratives. Visitors are invited to discover the subtle yet impactful marks these artists leave on the photographic landscape, highlighting the medium’s enduring potential for reinvention.

Sayart / Jason Yim, yimjongho1969@gmail.com