Welcome back! The third section of this Year in Review series will take us from July to September this year and will cover both Korea and India. There is a mix of personal and commissioned work here along with a few images from my Tattoos of Asia project extension to Northeast India. Surrounding this, I worked with several families, photographed some more of Seoul, and shot a beautiful wedding with Anders and Mina in Seoul. Enjoy the images below!
July – Seoul Photographer
To start off the month, Marco Devon and I headed out for a fun day in Jongno to search out the gentlemen of the area before the weather got too hot. My favourite from the session was this couple who had just wound up their dance session for the day. I also got the chance to do another session involving Gyeongbokgung. Since it was a monsoon day, I took the opportunity to snag a shot of the palace with some drama around. With the monsoon continuing, there wasn’t much to shoot but gloom, so the following shot is from a quick trip Jeehe and I took to the sauna.
A continuation of the “Gentlemen of Jongno” series.
Gyeongbokgung on a monsoon day.
Seoul’s monsoon.
For my upcoming project in Northeast India, Fujifilm had offered to lend me their medium-format GFX 50s for a month. In order to get used to this form of shooting, I was given access to the body and lenses a week in advance. So, the end of July and beginning of August were filled with experimentation and testing the capabilities of the GFX. My thoughts on using it as a travel camera and also as a portrait camera can be found on Fstoppers. In short, it’s a phenomenal camera and I’d eventually love to own one.
Christine is a beautiful Hanbok from 눈썹달주단.
Who says you can’t shoot candid street shots with medium format?
This guy may have more megapixles in his phone than I do in my camera, but they’re nowhere near as deep.
Lotte’s eyesore photographed with a medium format camera looks much the same.
August – Travel Photographer
Next up, it was off to India in search of the Konyak Naga and Apatani peoples for Tattoos of Asia. True to India, we were thwarted the day we arrived by floods blocking our road up to the hills of Mon District. However, in true Indian style, we had a great time with some great people to get us through the day. A random invite in for tea in Sonari town led to the knowledge that the house owner had a friend who could get us through private tea fields and allow our journey to continue. Over the next four weeks, Jonne and I would weather just about everything India could throw at us and come up smiling. Let’s just say, rebel groups closing roads was the only thing that actually managed to put a dent in our plans. the full stories will be up on Tattoos of Asia soon, so keep checking back there. In the meantime, please enjoy the photographs.
A Konyak hunter with his monkey-skull covered basket.
A former Konyak headhunter displays his tattoos.
The Apatani tattoos are a symbol of beauty and coming-of-age.
Even now, the Apatani practice shamanistic rituals.
Textures are why I love India. The people, the places, the food. They’re all about textures.
September – Event, Wedding, and Family Photographer
If India was a wild ride, September in Korea was going to be even crazier. The moment I touched down, I was off to work with Forno Bonomi for their two-day Italian cooking workshop in Seoul. Not only was it a lot of fun to photograph, but as someone who loves to cook, it was great to pick up tips from a chef like Fabio Tacchella. Then it was off to shoot my good friends’ David and Sojeong’s wedding. We had a beautiful (if slightly rushed, true to form) afternoon in Seoul for the wedding and it was great to see them up there. Two days later, I met up with the Ramsey family for their custody session. The full blog is coming in January, but let’s just say that it was a fun filled morning.
Forno Bonomi teamed up with Fabio Tacchella for a great Italian cooking workshop in Seoul.
David and Sojeong had a beautiful traditional wedding at Nakseongdae Park.
Part and parcel of being a Ramsey.
No speeding fines here.
No tears, even in the doctor’s office! At least here…!
Next was the Porter family, who were featured on the blog a couple of months ago. Will’s infectious laughter led the way in this session and we had a lot of fun together. Following this was the annual German Innovation Awards, which had the best light of any event I’ve ever photographed. Huge windows and timing allowed for an event with plenty of atmosphere, which made the photography really rewarding. The next day, I reconnected with the Ramsey family for a Day-in-the-Life documentary session that would be an absolute riot. From the tears at medicine time to dropping an ice-cream and then running amok and filling the room with laughter, the day just did not stop. Look out for the full blog post in January as well.
Non-stop smiles from Will.
Backlight can be beautiful, even at corporate events.
Unhappy about medicine time, but wait until he drops an ice-cream.
One would be forgiven for thinking this was the arrival of the end-times, but it was simply the demise of an ice-cream.
It wasn’t all tears, though. There were plenty of sweet moments as well.
Not only that, but smiles that could melt the iciest of hearts.
To finally wrap up this quarter, I’d like to share a simple image from the wedding of Anders and Mina. Their small, intimate wedding consisted of family and some close friends, their puppy, and some homebrew to share with the guests. It doesn’t get much better than that! See you next week!
