Portrait Photography Research Society of Seoul
* Source: MMCA
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Hyun Ilyeong
Hyun Ilyeong (1903-1975) was a pioneer of early commercial photography and a prominent figure in the history of modern and contemporary Korean photography who explored a new language for everyday documentation. He went to Maedong Commercial School in Seoul and took classes in the English department at YMCA. In 1929, while living in Manchuria, Hyun submitted Megane Liver Oil to the International Commercial Art Photography Competition organized by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper company. Winning second prize, he was introduced to the photography world. He held his first solo exhibition in 1931 in Dalian, Manchuria and later held his second solo exhibition in Pyongyang, which led to voluminous creative activities. In 1932, he moved to Seoul and opened Hyun Ilyeong Photo Studio on Jongno 2-ga, where he worked as a commercial photographer. In 1935, he went to Japan to study at the Oriental Photography School. In 1946, shortly after Korea’s liberation from Japan, he founded the Portrait Photography Research Society of Seoul [Seoul insang sajin yeonguhoe] along with Kim Gwangbae, Park Pilho, Lim Sukje, and others, and served as president. In 1947, he was dispatched to Ulleungdo and Dokdo Islands on an academic research mission organized by the Joseon Mountaineering Club and sponsored by the Ministry of Education, where he photographed the landscapes of Ulleungdo and Dokdo with Choi Kyebok. Starting with his third solo exhibition held in 1956 at Dong Hwa Gallery in Seoul, Hyun immersed himself in the possibilities of photography as an art form and captured ordinary objects and scenes of everyday life with a personal and lyrical approach. In particular, his photographs capture simple things in daily life, including a clock, calendar, ashtray, and a pack of spools, from a contemplative point of view and express them in a neat black-and-white photographic language. His last solo exhibition was held in 1972. After his death, in April 1984, the photographer Joo Myungduck, the photography researcher Choi Injin, and others held an exhibition of posthumous photographs by Hyun Ilyeong at Hanmadang Gallery in Junghak-dong, Seoul. Sigak Publishing published Hyun Ilyeong: 1903–1975, a collection of his posthumous photographs.
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Lim Sukje
Lim Sukje (1918–1994) was an important modern and contemporary Korean photographer. He joined the Korean Photography Alliance [Joseon sajin dongmaeng], which was founded on June 13 in 1947 in Jongno, Seoul. As a member of the first squad of the cultural operation unit of the Korea Federation of Cultural Organizations [Joseon munhwa danche chongyeonmaeng], a representative left-wing organization, Lim led activities to build a new culture in the newly liberated environment. Together with other members of the Korean Photography Alliance, he participated in a traveling exhibition of the cultural operation unit hosted by the Busan Sinmun newspaper company in June 1947 by submitting press photos of the U.S.–Soviet Joint Committee, documentary photos of the Namsan Mayday event, and photos of left-wing leaders. By doing so, he widely disseminated historical records of the time to the public. From August 7 to 14 in 1948, he held The First Solo Exhibition of Art Photography by Lim Sukje at Dong Hwa Gallery. According to the photographer Hyun Ilyeong, Lim Sukje Art Photography Solo Exhibition is significant as “the first solo photography exhibition held after Korea’s liberation from Japan by overcoming the extreme shortage of photographic materials.” Given that Lee Taeung, a chairman of the Korean Photography Alliance, wrote a recommendation and that other alliance members presented their works in support of him, Lim’s solo exhibition shows the last activity of the alliance members before they were removed from the organization’s roster. The photos displayed in Lim’s solo exhibition featured men engaging in manual labor, including a laborer carrying imported food at the Incheon wharf, another in a workplace, and a tenant farmer. Accordingly, his photography was considered to break away from traditional painterly and romantic styles, pursuing instead stark and hard-edged realism. In 1952, Lim served as president of the Korean Photographic Art Research Association [Daehan sajin yesul yeonguhoe]. He continued to develop his creative oeuvre by holding nine solo exhibitions until 1962.
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Joseon Art Photography Association
A prominent photography group that formed on 5 March 1946, after Korea was liberated. The group united members of the Gyeongseong Amateur Photography Club and Baekyang Sauhoe, two groups that were active during the colonial era, as well as other photographers active around the country, and it grew into a national photography institute. The institute maintained an office in Munjeonyanghaeng, Myeongdong, Seoul, and it comprised 58 members. The leadership of the institute comprised 11 members, including the president, Park Yeong-jin, and vice presidents Lee Hae-seon, Park Pil-o, Heon Il-yeong, and Jeong Do-seon. Through its official manifesto, the institute made clear its goals: Conducting research on reality and theories of the art of photography; absorption of high-quality art from both at home and abroad; and, improving national culture through photography. The institute held the 1st Art Photography Exhibition at the Dong Hwa Department Store in May 1946. After the Republic of Korea was founded, the group was renamed as the Daehan Art Photography Institute. In 1956, the group was renamed once more as the Daehan Art Photographers Association, and it continues to use this name today.
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Korean Photography Alliance
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.
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