Photographs of Yeondoo Jung evoke warmth, presenting positive energy to viewers
through simple pleasure and splendor imbued within. Rather than presenting
images by putting different subjects together, Jung attempts to represent the
relationships brought up amongst the subjects, and sentiments or dreams that are
held by them, which becomes the quintessence of his “constructed
photography.”
Therefore, Jung’s photos can be distinguished from those of Jeff Wall that revive the pictorial structure into the context of modern life or those of Pierre & Gilles that create spectacular fantasy with impersonation of Cleopatra or naval forces. Especially, the works of the latter hold their signature character that lives in the artificial paradise, so called “Pierre & Gilles Land,” which emanates unique radiance.
There is no such a “signature character” (or a creature) in the photos of Yeondoo Jung. He employs photography, a medium that transcends real and the pictorial realms, and use it as a catalyst to form a relationship with the subject or with the society. As a result, he elevated photography to a higher level such that its pictorial realm ends up having dynamic influence on the real world. All different dreams can be simulated with visual images in the realm of fantasy: photography can also become a magical tool that change a pumpkin into a horse carriage with a single stroke of magic wand away.
“In information society, ‘pseudo-environment’ generated by the mass media came to achieve a relative significance against real society due to an increasing internal transmission and influences of the mass media on each and every individual. If not a schizophrenia in its narrow definition, however, people tend to misplace the boundary between the realm of reality and the fantasy: and due to their utopian and autistic thinking, people tend to transcend the boundary between the world they indirectly experience through the mass media and the society that they actually live in.”
(Social System and Psychological Disorder, 1971, by Oda Shin, Sociopsychologist)
Yeondoo Jung actively yet positively uses the risky influence of the media that the psychologists warn about. Jung’s recent work BeWitched is a series of “constructed photos,” which is an embodiment of future dreams of young people he met on the streets of Seoul and other Asian cities. Their dreams and fantasies are all varied. Jung suggests this diversity by juxtaposing the scene from their daily lives with their dream-come-true images with the same postures.
A girl working at a fast food restaurant is standing a bit askew with a mop in front of the store counter, and she is shown in the same pose with a spear, ready to go hunting on a dog-pulled sled on the Arctic ice. A boy standing next to a gas pump at the gas station is transformed into a car racer holding a trophy that he won in a Formula 1 car race. A beautiful lady wearing a red coat is standing in front of an upscale store, and next to which, she is in a setting where surrounded by children in a suburban household. The artist worked on these photos with very refined observation and respect for each individual’s daily lives and stories, which is the reason why the simple dream of the beautiful lady and other’s dream-come-true stories can be very real and refreshing despite the banality of its nature.
Therefore, Jung’s photos can be distinguished from those of Jeff Wall that revive the pictorial structure into the context of modern life or those of Pierre & Gilles that create spectacular fantasy with impersonation of Cleopatra or naval forces. Especially, the works of the latter hold their signature character that lives in the artificial paradise, so called “Pierre & Gilles Land,” which emanates unique radiance.
There is no such a “signature character” (or a creature) in the photos of Yeondoo Jung. He employs photography, a medium that transcends real and the pictorial realms, and use it as a catalyst to form a relationship with the subject or with the society. As a result, he elevated photography to a higher level such that its pictorial realm ends up having dynamic influence on the real world. All different dreams can be simulated with visual images in the realm of fantasy: photography can also become a magical tool that change a pumpkin into a horse carriage with a single stroke of magic wand away.
“In information society, ‘pseudo-environment’ generated by the mass media came to achieve a relative significance against real society due to an increasing internal transmission and influences of the mass media on each and every individual. If not a schizophrenia in its narrow definition, however, people tend to misplace the boundary between the realm of reality and the fantasy: and due to their utopian and autistic thinking, people tend to transcend the boundary between the world they indirectly experience through the mass media and the society that they actually live in.”
(Social System and Psychological Disorder, 1971, by Oda Shin, Sociopsychologist)
Yeondoo Jung actively yet positively uses the risky influence of the media that the psychologists warn about. Jung’s recent work BeWitched is a series of “constructed photos,” which is an embodiment of future dreams of young people he met on the streets of Seoul and other Asian cities. Their dreams and fantasies are all varied. Jung suggests this diversity by juxtaposing the scene from their daily lives with their dream-come-true images with the same postures.
A girl working at a fast food restaurant is standing a bit askew with a mop in front of the store counter, and she is shown in the same pose with a spear, ready to go hunting on a dog-pulled sled on the Arctic ice. A boy standing next to a gas pump at the gas station is transformed into a car racer holding a trophy that he won in a Formula 1 car race. A beautiful lady wearing a red coat is standing in front of an upscale store, and next to which, she is in a setting where surrounded by children in a suburban household. The artist worked on these photos with very refined observation and respect for each individual’s daily lives and stories, which is the reason why the simple dream of the beautiful lady and other’s dream-come-true stories can be very real and refreshing despite the banality of its nature.
>>>Yeondoo Jung
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