Vergil America Invitational Exhibition 2018
Youngsook Zhang
Singing the Life of Nature
August, 15th~20th, 2018
Opening Aug. 18th, 2018 2pm~6pm
Chosun Ilbo Museum
33, Sejong-daero 21-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
A Poet of Photographic Art, Youngsook Zhang, Singing the Life of Nature.
Commentary by: Son Hyung-Woo (Art Philosophy, Ph.D.)
Facing the living and breathing nature, and at the moment of feeling the breathtaking thrill overwhelming the whole body, photographer Youngsook Zhang pushes the shutter. She cannot dare to pass by the beautiful moment of “what comes into a sight and disappears in a twinkling”, and captures the hidden story of the nature and the object that exudes from their depth. And she tells the tense moments in her photographs.
Korean American photographer Youngsook Zhang is a poet of modern photographic art that conveys the lingering imagery of nature and objects. Nature, which passes like the wind, has no sound. It is for human beings to miss what disappears in a flash. Ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu called this the “formless form” (Lao-tzu Ch.14). The true character of nature has no rest. The moment you capture it, it changes its face into a different image. Therefore, it is difficult to capture the living and moving image of nature. The desire of human beings to capture the beauty of the object has resulted in photographs of the 19th century, along with numerous arts.
In the early 19th century, photographs were invented by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851), Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833), and William Henry Fox Talbot (1800~ 1877). Then in the 1890s, photographs were published in regular magazines. By 1915, photographs were used in newspapers. In the early 20th century, Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946), from 1903 to 1917, worked as editor and publisher in a photography magazine [Camera Work], trying to sublimate photography into a form of art. He is regarded as the father of modern photography. However, full-fledged photographic art required more time and effort. Since then, contemporary photographic art has gone through revolutionary and dynamic changes in landscape, figures, stationary objects, abstractism, printing and editing, and digital equipment, among others. Amidst a series of changes, photographer Youngsook Zhang asks a primal question about photography.
The photographer Youngsook Zhang wanted to bring about the beauty of the nature and the object that are constantly changing without rest. The girl who loved the “images of raindrops” falling down to her yard in her childhood (Youngsook Zhang), met photography like her fate. In 1998, she studied photography from Jin Dong-Sun, Lee Kyungmin, Yoon Sung-Jin, and Paik Jong-Heum who were photographers at the time in Korea. Youngsook Zhang, who had an interest in the traces of nature and time, went to America in 2002. In the United States, photography activities dominated Youngsook Zhang’s daily life.
She presented her works to international photography magazines and exhibition halls and won awards. International Color Awards 7th (2014) and 8th (2015). Black & White Spider Awards 8th (2014). Adopted by North Valley Art League & Carter House Gallery (NVAL). Adopted by Vermont PhotoPlace Gallery and exhibition (2014). But to Youngsook Zhang, photography itself is an intense source of life.
Youngsook Zhang, a photographer who faces the sound of life on the earth, faces the breathtaking beauty of nature unfolding before the camera lens. The earth rolls like breath under the sun shine waving, fluttering, and setting passionately. She waits for the tense moment. The moment she presses the shutter is exclusively of the artist. The moment captured by the artist Youngsook Zhang. What she wants to show is a pure encounter between nature and human. Youngsook Zhang, a photographer who reveals the footprints and traces of a human passing by primitive nature as a beauty of harmony, is a poet of photographic art.
Youngsook Zhang Born in 1954, Seoul, Korea. In my undoubtedly beautiful memory, I mainly spent my youth wandering through beautiful, colorful, and abundant autumn leaves in near Hong Neoung Mountains. It is then through raindrops I began to see a form of art take place. From my view, I saw the droplets form different sizes and shapes which helped cultivate my experience in art. I started my professional career as a fashion interior design and later, realizing art was my true passion, discovered the world of photography and was very inspired. As a self-taught photographer, I started to express myself through the eye of photography. Later, I immigrated to United States in 2002; here, I have had wonderful experience in traveling country side for long period of times and during these times, I let my imagination began to fly in the forms of photography. Also, I owe a great deal of gratitude to professional photographers and friends who inspired me in life to continue what I love.
