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Korean Photography Alliance

Korean Photography Alliance

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The Korean Photography Alliance [Joseon sajin dongmaeng; KPA] was a leftist photography organization founded on June 13, 1947 at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Kim Jinsu, Lee Tae-ung, Lee Yongmin, and twenty other promoters gathered, held a founding convention, and launched the alliance by asserting the mission of photographers to “create photographic art with militant artistry and popular expressions.” According to a newspaper article written by Lee Tae-ung, a leading figure in the formation of the alliance, the KPA claimed to be a “photographic cultural institution established by a group of professional, amateur, and press photographers in an effort to contribute to the construction of national culture.” An affiliate of the Korea Federation of Cultural Organizations [Joseon munhwa danche chong yeonmaeng], the KPA decided to hold the First Photo Exhibition in Commemoration of Korea’s Liberation from Japan on August 15. It selected its secretary Kim Jinsu as a representative to attend the meeting of the U.S.–Soviet Joint Committee held on June 25, 1947. Lim Sukje, a member of the KPA, belonged to the cultural operations unit of the Korea Federation of Cultural Organizations and held an exhibition on the second floor of Busan Joseon Newspaper company. At the time, more than fifty photographs of leftist leaders and the U.S.-Soviet Joint Committee taken by the KPA members were displayed. However, when the division of Korea became a reality following South Korea’s separate election held on May 10, 1948, the leftist cultural organizations, including the Korea Federation of Cultural Organizations and its affiliated KPA, found it difficult to continue their activities. With the establishment of the National Guidance Alliance [Gungmin bodo yeonmaeng], which was composed of leftist defectors, on June 5, 1949, the majority of the KPA members defected to North Korea or chose to convert politically in order to survive. On December 26, 1949, the KPA was deregistered by Decree No. 55 of the Bureau of Public Information and disappeared from the official list of organizations.
* Source: MMCA

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