Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist shares ‘unforgettable images’ of Korea

Korean American photojournalist Hyungwon Kang shares “unforgettable images about Korean culture and history” at an exhibition at the Canon Gallery in southern Seoul, which kicked off Tuesday.

Kang is the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, one in 1993 for his coverage of the 1992 Los Angeles riots for the Los Angeles Times and one in 1999 for his coverage of the Bill Clinton impeachment and the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal for the Associated Press.

The award-winning photojournalist came to Korea in 2020 following his retirement in 2019 and started a project titled “Visual History of Korea.”

The photography exhibition “Visual History of Korea & EOS R3” showcases 25 photographs that Kang recently took as part of the project, which documents Korean history and culture with images and words for future generations. 

“It is difficult for them (the future generations) to learn about Korea accurately, because there is an inadequate amount of information about Korea in English language,” Kang told The Korea Herald. The photojournalist is currently contributing his works to The Korea Herald, available both in print and online.

While he had an international audience in mind for his project at first, he expanded his target audience to include those in Korea after he realized that many Koreans also lack sufficient knowledge about their own traditional culture and history.

"Photography offers the most intuitive experience, with unforgettable impressions that can linger, which is why my body of work can particularly valuable in the internet era where the primary language on the web is in pictures," he added.

The photographs were taken with Canon’s EOS R3 mirrorless camera, which he referred to as his “new toy,” having used Canon cameras over the past 40 years.

“The greatest tool and the most important tool of a photojournalist is a photographer’s ability to process knowledge about the limits of the equipment into a visual presentation of images,” he said. “I am documenting one of the oldest civilizations in the world using the newest technologies available.”

The exhibition runs through Dec. 26 at Canon Gallery in Gangnam, southern Seoul. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)