photographer
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Life of Deportation and Settlement
Koryo-saram: Eтнічний Кореєць
The combination of visual symbols.
Jung Sungtae highlights the topical issue – the problem of political deportations and forced resettlement. For hundreds of years people had to leave their homes and explore new horizons in search of security, safety, and economic stability or simply because they had no option to stay at home.
Looking at the works of Jung Sungtae, I am surprised by the combination of visual symbols: it seems that all of them have been created far beyond the borders of Ukraine, that they represent the stories of people from the Far East. First of all, this impression is created by interior details – extraordinary, low tables, many rugs, unusual patterns; the heroes of the stories – with Asian appearance – belong to different families and different generations, and have different level of income. Warm, natural lighting prevails in the author’s works, creating the atmosphere of calmness. The central composition focuses on people - heroes of the stories.
As a viewer, I want to look beyond the shot, to see more, to dive deeper into the story, to learn what these portraits cover – which memories and feelings, which hopes and fears.
Kateryna Radchenko,
Head of Odessa//Batumi Photo Days
Curator of Suwon International Photo Festival 2016