Photo exhibition to help visually impaired

Photographer Kim Jung-man is holding a smartphone photo exhibition to help young and elderly people with visual impairments.

Titled “Eyes of Vega,” the exhibition features photos Kim took with Pantech’s latest mobile phone Vega R3, equipped with a 13 million-pixel camera.

Kim captured beautiful scenes during his travels to Seoul’s old palaces, Jusanji Lake in North Gyeongsang Province, Jeju Island, Tokyo, and China’s Yunnan Province.

“These are photos I took with two sets of Vega smartphones. I started the project with some doubts about the quality of a phone camera, but now I am happy with the results,” said Kim at the opening of the exhibition on Monday.

“The proceeds of the exhibition will be donated to Korea University Medical Center to help visually impaired children and older patients,” Kim added.

Vice president of Pantech Lee Joon-woo also said: “The proceeds of the exhibition will fund eye surgeries for patients at the medical center.”

The photos, enlarged to 1.2 meters by 1.8 meters, are on display at Platoon Kunsthalle, an exhibition space in Gangnam, Seoul, until Feb. 3.

Instead of a guided tour, viewers are provided with Vega smartphones equipped with a curator application that offers information on each photograph.

Kim is holding a photography lesson in which he will share fun episodes from the smartphone photo project as well as tips on taking high-quality photos. The lesson is scheduled for two hours starting at 2 p.m. on Feb. 2. The registration for the class can be made in advance at www.ivega.co.kr.

The photographs are also available for online viewing at the website until Feb. 28.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)