KIM Jung Man 「STREET OF BROKEN HEART」

KIM Jung Man 

「STREET OF BROKEN HEART」

The exhibition began in November at the Hanmi Museum of Photography. It will be on display until February of next year. I was able to appreciate the exhibition relatively quickly. Because Hanmi Photo Museum is not far from my home. So whenever a new exhibition starts at the Hanmi Photo Museum, it is my little pleasure to stop by and watch the exhibition before going home. Kim Jung-man is often known as a fashion photographer. As I was also known as a fashion photographer, I was a bit curious that Kim Jung-man's exhibition will be held.

The Hanmi Photo Museum is divided into two floors, 19F and 20F.

There is an exhibition hall on the 20th floor and two exhibition halls on the 19th floor.

I always buy tickets on the 20th floor and watch works on the 20th floor first.

STREET OF BROKEN HEART

For nine years, on the small street one and a half kilometers to his studio in the middle of Seoul, KIM Jung man took thousands of black and white photos. He called this nameless street “Street of Broken Heart” because over the years, he was able to see how a cyclone and increased human intervention had affected the trees lining it. 

The number of trees along the street dropped a thousand to a few hundred. Most of them showed wounds. KIM Jung man describes this street simply but sadly and very well-known to him and represents a territory in which space does not figure, and shows the material waste and the harsh smell of dust, old bricks and ruin.

The black birds, when not resting on one of their branches, partly obliterate the sky, either dark or bright. But the wind moves the supple branches of some of those fragile survivors, and after the harshness of winter, after the snow had both protected and worsened the environment, causes the buds to burst and revive. The trees in the small nameless street have captured the imagination of the photographer and caused him to produce thousands of photos. They certainly are related to a wounded conscience of the world, perhaps to something more intimate which has not to be revealed.

That is the "Broken heart"road. Our broken heart, too.

All the pictures were taken in black and white film.

The size of the work was so big that it was amazing.

and the traces of the film were still there. 

These two works on the 19th floor were my favorite. 

The 19th floor is decorated with gray tones on both the floor and the wall. This environment seems to go well with black-and-white pictures.

As a matter of fact, the Hanmi Photo Museum has a much better display of black and white pictures.

I like these two pictures because they look like ink paintings, not pictures. It gives the sense of an Oriental ink painting, making the tree more desolate.

It turns out that all the pictures were printed on Korean paper. That's why the ink paintings became stronger.

If you want to see a picture with quiet power in a quiet space, it's a good idea to watch the exhibition!