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Fox, William L.View Finder: Mark Klett, Photography, and
the Reinvention of Landscape. Albuquerque: University
of New Mexico Press, 2001.
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the West Project. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1992.
Jenkins, William.New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-
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Phillips, Sandra S.Crossing the Frontier: Photographs of the
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Legacy and Legend. San Francisco: The Friends of
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Reisner, Marc.Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its
Disappearing Water. New York: Viking Books, 1986.PHOTOGRAPHY IN KOREA
The word ‘‘photography’’ is translated assa-jin in
Korean, a name given by a group of Chosun dynasty
diplomats who visited Beijing in the 1860s and took
pictures at one Russian photographer’s studio. Each
syllable has a distinct meaning and the two combine to
define the term. The first part,sameans precise repre-
sentation, while the second one,jinmeans essence or
true quality of an object. The meaning ofsa-jinthus
differs from that of the English term ‘‘photography,’’
which emphasizes the exact reproduction of the sur-
face of the object being photographed. Instead, the
wordsa-jinunderscores the understanding of Korean
people on photography, through which, they believe,
not only the outer surface, but also the inner quality of
an object can be transmitted.
Modern photography was introduced in Korea
during the 1880s, 40 years after its invention by
Daguerre. This delay was a result of the foreign
policy of the Chosun dynasty, which banned all
forms of contact with Western culture before 1876.
During the 1880s, some people including Kim
Yong-won, Ji Un-young, and Hwang Chol learned
the technique of photography and opened their stu-
dios in Korea. However, even with their activities,
photography was far from being accepted by the
general public due to expensive equipment and the
shamanic taboo circulated in the society.
The Act of Hair-Cut (danbal-lyong) executed in
1895 played a key role in the distribution of photo-
graphy among the public. Faced with the mandate of
cutting their long hair, the symbol of filial piety,
Korean literati and other Koreans wanted to leave
the visual record of their long-haired appearance.
Photography provided an easy and detailed medium,
which satisfied their demand, and from this period
onward, commercial photography has been a suc-
cessful venture in Korea. Competition among photo-
graphy studios contributed to the development of
photographic techniques and lowered the price of
pictures. Furthermore, some even wanted to learn
the practice of photography as a leisure activity. In
order to meet the demand, the YMCA opened a
course for amateur photographers, while a few pri-
vate institutions offered short-term night classes.
After Korea was colonized by Japan in 1910, the
photography industry in Korea was mostly domi-
nated by Japanese photographers. With the help of
improved techniques and equipment along with the
support from the Japanese Government General in
Korea, Japanese photographers had a virtual mon-
opoly on photography production. In response to
this situation, a group of Korean photographers
organized Kyong-sung (currently Seoul) Photogra-
phers’ Association in 1926. Instead of maintaining
the traditional focus on studio portraiture, they
expanded their field of subjects with various tech-
niques and new materials.
Amateur photographers began to appear in sig-
nificant numbers during the 1930s; the introduction
of the portable, inexpensive, and less complicated
camera equipment then available attracting a wider
public to the medium. By 1937, there were 70 ama-
teur photography clubs with up to 1,000 members
in Korea. However, their activities were soon the
target of suppression from the Japanese govern-
ment. During the Second World War, on theKLETT, MARK