〈Hyeon-Joen Series〉(1978-82) was first introduced in Kim Young Soo’s solo exhibition 《Hyeon-Joen》 (1981). This 50 picture series does not deal with pleasant or comfortable scenes; most are old, abandoned, and dying things, namely dark and depressing objects or landscapes that people usually want to turn away from. Even his portrait photos reveal a tense vision of life as-it-is rather than a sugar-coated version of reality. Through these photos, Kim Young Soo shows existing objects at the present moment; literally their “presence.” According to art critic Choi Min, objects and humans in Kim’s works demonstrate diverse existences and situations. He considered Kim Young Soo’s works as having a kind of “enigmatic” characteristic. His works show but do not explain everything, while vividly revealing the fragmented reality of life from a sharp angle, making people fundamentally think about human existence. Therefore, as Choi Min correctly stated, Kim Young Soo’s photography is the key to the mystery, or itself is the mystery.
Kim Young Soo (1946-2011) founded the Korean Photographer Association (Minjok Sajinga Hyeopoe) in 1999 and served as the president from 2003 to 2011. He held solo exhibitions including 《Hyeon-Joen》 (Duck Soo Art Gallery, Seoul, 1981), 《Human: Standee》 (Duson Gallery, Seoul; Hyunhwarang, Daegu, 1987), 《Human: ID Card》 (Batangol Museum of Art, Seoul, 1987), 《Floating Island》 (Gana Forum Space, Seoul, 2004), and 《Gwangdae》 (Gong Gallery, Seoul, 2007). He participated in various group exhibitions such as 《Seoul Spring》 (Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, 1993), 《The 15 Years of Korean Minjoong Arts: 1980-1994》 (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art [MMCA], Gwacheon, 1994), 《Art toward the Society: Realism in Korean Art 1945-2005》 (The Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum and other museums, Niigata and other cities, Japan, 2007), and 《Re-viewing on Photography》 (Gallery Lux, Seoul, 2010). He received the Seoul Mayor’s plaque of appreciation in 1996 and a Korea Entertainment Award in 1999.
Kim Young Soo encountered photography first through local photographers in Daejeon and later learned photography by himself through studying foreign photographic magazines. Coming back to Seoul, Kim interacted with photographers such as Lim Eung-sik and Joo Myung Duck, and spent three years working on his craft in Kim Jung Man’s darkroom. In the 1980s, Kim Young Soo socialized with Minjung artists and worked tirelessly to enhance the status of photography in South Korea. For instance, he formed a photography division within the Korean People’s Artist Federation (Minjok Yesulga Chongyeonhap) in 1987 and founded the Korean Photographer Association (Minjok Sajinga Hyeopoe) in 1999, shedding light on Korean photographers through the 〈Rediscovery of Korean Photography series〉, and continued lectures and group exhibitions at the Korean Photographer Association. In addition, the portrait photography project for the underprivileged elderly, which he conducted with members of the Korean Photographer Association from the late 1990s, was another example of his social concerns and participation through photography. Kim Young Soo built his own unique world of photography by highlighting technical and aesthetic characteristics of photography as well as keenly facing real problems in society.
