"The people who were content with their lives and saw them as their own choice were free in front of the camera."
The subject of our first-issue interview is photographer Shim Kyu-dong. He made his debut in 2017 with the photobook 〈Gositel〉 (고시텔), part of the Noonbit Photographers series from the photography publisher Noonbit, and he looks straight at people who live in very small spaces. For this issue, 5ft magazine met him in Gangneung, where he works, for a long conversation.
Why 〈Gositel〉?
A room of barely 3.3 square meters. A viewpoint that seems to look down from a camera hung on the ceiling. Inside, one person lies on the bed, another reads a book, another stares straight into the lens. Once you've seen the 〈Gositel〉 series, that striking composition is hard to forget.
Open the magazine and his body of work unfolds page by page. Not only 〈Gositel〉 but his ongoing series 〈Single-Person Households〉 (1인가구), and his own philosophy of light. Here we share just a few of the questions in advance.
〈Gositel〉, 〈Single-Person Households〉, your portraits: all of them seem to deal with people's lives. What does "life" mean to you?
To me, life is the experience of the situation you find yourself in: your era, your culture, your family, and so on.
A short answer with real weight. What he captures with his camera isn't just scenery or how people look. It's the mark an era has left on someone. That is why the pictures in 〈Gositel〉 go beyond simple record.
"Free in Front of the Camera"
One of the most striking answers in the interview: during the year he spent photographing 〈Gositel〉, some people were struggling with their lives and others were content. And, he says, that difference showed up plainly in front of the camera.
We heard that during the 〈Gositel〉 project, some people were struggling with their lives and others were content. Where does that difference come from?
I think it comes from differences in the values that make up each person. You define yourself, "This is the kind of person I am!", and when you can't live up to it, you feel a kind of self-reproach. The unconscious is involved, so I don't think it's something you can easily change just by deciding to. The people who were content with their lives and saw them as their own choice were free in front of the camera.
After this answer, he goes on to share his own approach to capturing a person in a short time. How is the closeness that a full year brings different from drawing out something sincere in a short session? You'll find that conversation in the magazine.
Do you have a method or philosophy for photographing people well in a short time?
Yes, you're right. The closeness that comes from a long time together is different. But being too close also seems to make you capture one particular side of a person. There are pros and cons. When I photograph someone in a short time, my approach is to talk about my philosophy of photography and go through a process of understanding each other...
〈Single-Person Households〉, a New Series
Shim Kyu-dong didn't stop after 〈Gositel〉. He is now working on a new series, 〈Single-Person Households〉. In this issue you can also see new work he chose to share with us.
〈Single-Person Households〉 feels like an extension of 〈Gositel〉, and yet it's different. In his words: "Next I want to archive portraits of this era: a middle-aged woman surrounded by fan merchandise, wealthy people living alone, influencers, people whose hobby is cosplay."
Light, and Film
The theme of this issue of 5ft magazine is "The Lingering Trace of Light and Shadow." In the second half of the interview, he talks at length about his philosophy of light and why he chooses film. "Honestly, it's no exaggeration to say that shooting film is photographing light," he said.
Working with film can't be easy. Is there a reason you stick with it?
I don't stick with film only, really. Each has its pros and cons, and I think I choose depending on the project. For 〈Gositel〉 it had to be medium format, and I didn't have the money for a digital medium-format camera. But a film medium-format camera was possible...
Do you have your own method or philosophy for using light and shadow in your work?
I don't like artificial light. And by artificial light I don't just mean lighting other than sunlight. In this era, indoor lamps are accepted as natural. On a city street with strong sunlight, the light bouncing off buildings looks like studio lighting too, but it feels natural to me...
More in the Magazine
There's more in this interview that we couldn't fit here.
- ● Wedding photography and documentary photography: how he moves between two opposite worlds
- ● The message in the independent film he made himself in 2019
- ● The sources of inspiration that keep him working steadily
- ● The moment that made him start taking photographs
- ● His favorite films and cameras, and why
The Full Interview Is in the Magazine
Shim Kyu-dong's full interview and unpublished photographs are in 5ft magazine Vol.01, our first issue.
