About Looking by Vostok Press (discontinued/arreté. seul distributeur hors Corée
VOSTOK PRESS is an independent publishing house based in Seoul. Korea. It publishes a bimonthly photography magazine, VOSTOK, and books on arts and photography. VOSTOK PRESS organizes exhibitions and events, directs lectures and workshops. It also carries out projects for institutions and private companies.
We Are All Beings Who Photograph and Are Photographed, Who Watch and Are Watched
“Who is it?” “Where is it?” These are the questions we ask most often when looking at a photograph. Ah, someone was photographed. Oh, this place was captured. This is because we instinctively try to identify what we are seeing first. When that “what” remains unclear and a photograph approaches us like a riddle, our interest quickly fades. When we can identify who or where—when the subject appears universally beautiful or worthy of remembrance—the photograph becomes an image we can readily accept, one that feels approachable and familiar.
From here, we can begin to understand why much of contemporary art photography feels difficult or distant. Faced with repeated images of unknown people in indeterminate places, we are at a loss as to what we are supposed to look at. Even when we vaguely grasp the “what,” it often does not appear especially beautiful or like a moment that must be remembered. In such cases, asking “Who is it?” or “Where is it?”—and even receiving an answer—often does little to help. The more important question then becomes: “How?” How is the photographer looking? And how is the photographer choosing to show us?
The photographic work before our eyes is a scene once encountered by the photographer. To present it to us, the photographer passes through numerous considerations and choices within the photographic process to arrive at a final image. In other words, regardless of what is being represented, a photograph always layers the act of looking with the act of showing. The act of looking is tied to the photographer’s perspective and attitude toward the subject, while the act of showing depends on their understanding and mastery of the photographic medium. Ultimately, this leads back to a question of vision: how the photographer perceives the world they face, and how they understand photography itself. This is why contemporary photographic works tend to focus less on what is shown and more on how the artist is looking—on revealing a singular, personal gaze.
Yet the question of gaze does not concern the photographer alone. Wherever there is one who looks, there is one who is looked at; wherever there is one who photographs, there is one who is photographed. And because there is always someone who views the photograph, the issue of gaze becomes increasingly complex. Before a photograph, we are all beings who photograph and are photographed, who watch and are watched. We project our own perspectives and desires onto images, but at the same time, we are also shaped and imbued with the perspectives and desires inscribed within those images. In this intricate crossing of looking and being looked at, a multitude of issues surrounding gaze emerge. When we encounter inequality and violence born of one-sided gazes—voyeurism and surveillance, objectification and othering, discrimination and hatred—we are reminded anew of the meaning and value of exchanging gazes on equal terms.
The journey of this issue begins by recalling certain facts that can only be visualized through photography, and certain truths that become visible only in black and white. These may not correspond exactly to the facts and truths of reality, but we hope they will offer a particular sensibility—one that can only be fully experienced within the world of black-and-white photography.
About Looking, Vostok Press. South Korea, May 2024.
Format: Magazine
Dimensions: 170 mm x 240 mm
Pages: 224
Publisher: Vostok Press
ISBN: 9791170370611
Language: Korean
