Photos of South Korea’s capital Seoul with amped-up colours and contrast show a different side to the city
- Street photographer Chae Kyung-wan, aka K. Chae, says some will dislike his style of photography, but he hopes people can discover their own Seoul through them
- His latest exhibition, ‘Not Seoul’, focuses on capturing the urban landscape rather than people’s spontaneous actions
Chae Kyung-wan, who goes by his pen name, K. Chae, is a street photographer who travels around the world to express what he sees with photography. He takes pictures of people, cityscapes, landscapes, wildlife and anything of interest in his path.
He has travelled to 85 countries to capture unrehearsed moments in life. His most recent plan to travel to Central Asia was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing him more time to capture the beauty of Seoul instead.
“I always thought I would take pictures of Seoul when I grew older and found travel uncomfortable. Until the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Seoul was the place where I spent time in the off-season. But things have changed over the past two years,” he says.
Chae started roaming the streets of Seoul and capturing small moments that people often miss, using an approach not too dissimilar from when he photographs scenes in unfamiliar cities.
“To me, photography is not about documenting what I see. It’s about expressing myself. So my goal was not to capture what is real, but to see the world in my own perspective,” he says.
A photograph can always show something entirely different depending on the person, he says. There is no one answer to how and what something or someone should look like. Each person sees things differently. That is why he named the title of his latest exhibition “Not Seoul”.
