Seunggu Kim X Dodho Magazine
Dodho Team :
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Seunggu Kim :
I am a naive person still thinking it is important to record our society in detail with analogue photos, even in the digital age.
Dodho :
How did you get interested in photography?
Kim :
It was good to be able to express my feelings and thoughts. I quit high school and reentered high school a year later, so I could learn photography.
Dodho :
What inspired you take your “Better Days” project?
Kim :
I felt that my identity has been defined by the circumstances where I belong to, while working both at school and at the building site throughout my twenties. I wondered what the bright side of our lives was, and I thought people’s leisure could show it.
Dodho :
What has been most challenging about working on this project and how have you negotiated those challenges?
Kim :
It was hard not to rush. I wait for a balanced moment with a large format film camera. Some specific regions were banned due to “Avian Influenza”, and these photos were taken three years ago. I take enough time and think slowly, looking for places and take pictures for a long time.
Dodho :
What has been the best part of this project?
Kim :
The anxiety I felt and the choices I made at the end comforted myself. And that’s how I started to do this, and I realized through people’s empathy that our lives were not very different.
Dodho :
What are your goals for this project?
Kim :
Ultimately, looking back on the fact of how we live. (Physically, I want to show compressed time and space and life. Phenomenally, I took note of social contradictions, the crowds’ and individuals’ lives, space habits and mixed cultures)
Dodho :
How would you define your general style photography?
Kim :
I always wait a long time trying to show the balance of unnatural elements through decisive moments. The problems I faced using films could be disturbing, but at the same time, they increased my focuses on the project.
Dodho :
Could you please tell us anything about your technique and creating process?
Kim :
I take a look through 4×5 inch finder, observe certain happenings, and wait for the perfect timing to shoot the composition.
Dodho :
How much preparation do you put into taking a photography?
Kim :
I investigate or inspect the place in advance and load the film. Still, due to various circumstances, I experience failures, so I shoot the next day, the next month, or the following year again.
Dodho :
What do you think makes a memorable project?
Kim :
Not chasing issues, not finding photogenic places but trying to find points of interests itself.
Dodho :
How do you know you got the shot you wanted?
Kim :
Very rarely, when I find an entirely satisfactory situation, I hold my breath and press the shutter.
Dodho :
Your idea of the perfect composition?
Kim :
I think the necessary photographic experience is the most important. Such as the area system, CMS (Color Management System) option, exposure, wind, shutter speed, aperture, angle, framing, timing
Dodho :
What would iI find in your Camera Bag?
Kim :
4x5inch Film Camera, film holders, exposure meter.. and a very high tripod and ladder.
Dodho :
What future plans do you have? What projects would you like to accomplish?
Kim :
I’m making ‘a list of landscapes’ that can explain well our society. It’s been about nine years since I started, and I am working on existing projects and a few new ones at the same time. Living spaces are still changing, so I am shooting my camera again.
Dodho :
Finally, one las question. What opinion do you have of our print edition?
Kim :
Magazines can only be operated by caring about the various clients and the advertising market, and I was very surprised to see Dodho Magazine. It’s an odd presence in Korea. I think it’s important to clarify the position and direction, whether you’re an artist or a media.