Joo Myung-Duck (b.1940) studied at the Department of History at Kyung Hee University and has been a photographer in various fields including documentary and records of cultural heritage. He held numerous solo exhibitions at home and abroad, and participated in major group exhibitions: “Holt’s Orphanage: Mixed Names” at Korea Information Center in 1966; “Landscape” at Seoul Museum in 1989; and “Lost Landscape” at Kyoto Shoin in Japan in 1993. From 1968 to 1973 he worked as a reporter for Monthly JoongAng, and currently serves as a representative of the publishing company View and a president of Korean Photographers’ Association.
Joo Myung-Duck has brought to the forefront a new social role of photography by capturing images of marginalized people via camera since 1960. “Holt’s Orphanage: Mixed Names,” his first solo exhibition held at Joong-ang Public Information Center in 1966, had a great impact. From 1968, serving as a photographer for Monthly JoongAng, he created magazine journalism in Korea and photo essays. From the late 1980s, turning his attention away from societal issues, he worked on “Black Landscape of Joo Myung Duck” dealing with nature and landscape, pursuing a more aesthetic photography art. Joo suggested a social function of photography and has expanded his realm, pursuing aesthetic values in photography as art.
