HAN YOUNGSOO Photographs of Korea, 1956 – 1963, Korea Institute, Harvard University | Han youngsoo | November 1 – December 31, 2019 | Press Release
about
A successful commercial image-maker in his later years, Han Youngsoo (1933-1999) began his work in photography after he returned to Seoul from the frontlines of the Korean War (1950-1953). The city, like the rest of the country, was devastated and impoverished. “After the war, still covered with the soot of tragedy, I found myself in the middle of civic confusion,” Han later observed. “I was startled to find, however, the great determination of the human spirit to carry on with life—in a sense something simple and natural, but also … very profound.” In the ensuing years, Han captured the city and its surroundings with a passionate eye for form and narrative detail, documenting both its ancient ways of life and its dramatic transformation from war-torn metropolis to a prosperous modern society.
Exhibitions
FIVE | June 22 – August 10, 2019 | press release | catalogue
HAN YOUNGSOO: PHOTOGRAPHS OF KOREA, 1956 – 1963 | Han Youngsoo | Sep. 22 – Nov. 21, 2018 | press release | catalogue
PRESS
2019, “Rare Scenes of a Rebuilding Seoul After the Korean War,” Saigoneer
2018, “Han Youngsoo,” Artforum
2018, “Photographing the Shadow of Korea’s Past,” Ginkgo Journal
2017, “A Photographer’s Images of a Changing Seoul After the Korean War,” Hyperallergic
2017, “Korean Photographer Han Youngsoo Exposes Seoul After War,” Art Centron
2017, “A Poetic Reminder of What Korea Used to be Like,” Featureshoot
