Photographer Yisak Choi
REQUIEM - Resonance of the Soul
Spiritual World of Yisak Choi's Photography
By Seung-Rae Cho, Professor of Kyungmin College University
In his photographs we discover a distinctive subject that separates him from other photographers. The title of the exhibition, Requiem, means music of condolence upon death. The photographer, who is a doctor, has visualized his thoughts about death, which started from his personal experience watching his dying patients, and his effort to overcome.
The earlier part of this exhibition presents the question about the existence of the human being, who cannot live forever. Through symbols such as rain on the window, broken down bricks, tombs and chains, the tragedy of death comes to us poignantly. But as we move toward the second half, the exhibition is completed with a feeling of comfort and peace as light between clouds, bandages, young trees, a Jesus statue and birds appear. In other words, the objects that appear in Choi's photographs are all metaphors of something deeply dormant in his world of unconsciousness. They are symbols of the questions about existence and their solutions. The objects or situations here are mostly those we can easily encounter in daily life. Thus he attempts to talk about universal truth through the peculiar emotions he experienced from common subject matter.
The question about death that is sensed in the beginning is an issue all humans agonize over from the bottom of their consciousness, and is a subject dealt with by many artists. The unique characteristic discovered in the subjects of his photographs, however, is that he goes beyond questioning and presents a solution. An artist is one who presents hope in a life without light and spreads hope. Choi has discovered such hope and has expressed his experiences through photography.
The characteristics of his photographic work are first that it includes outstanding metaphors and symbolism. The works suggest an invisible world through a visible world. Wynn Bullock said “When I take photographs what I am actually doing is searching for answers about objects. I wanted to use the camera not just to re-create objects, but make what was invisible to the naked eye visible.” The medium called the photograph can record not only what is seen through the naked eye, but also what is seen through the eye of the mind. The camera is not just an extension of the eye but an extension of the head as well. It can see more clearly, farther, closer, slower and faster than the human eye. The camera can see the world seen through the naked eye, the world felt by the heart, and the world thought of by the head. Yisak Choi's Requiem tells us how objects look different when they are seen through the eye of the heart.
Second, the overall flow of his work is characterized by a message of reversion with a dual structure. His photographs demonstrate that he has a unique method of looking at objects peculiarly. Death and life, despair and hope, pain and joy are seen simultaneously in the images of reality. Everyone feels the emptiness and fear of death, held deep down in their minds, as seek the solution of eternal life. They see spiritual happiness in physical pain. They show hope amidst despair. The fact that darkness and light, constraint and freedom, despair and hope coexist feels like a surreal situation. Such messages of hope would be messages of hope, joy and happiness that can reverse the minds and thoughts of the modern human, who is depressed, in despair, impulsive and destructive. He is a doctor who heals the bodies of humans, but wants to be an artist who cures their souls. Thus his photographs appear to us as a drama of emotion or an epic poem.
The third characteristic is his method of showing objects by arranging various images. The first half and the second half of the exhibition each show series of images about despair and hope. The well-arranged groups of the images of despair and the images of hope communicate to spectators with great synergy like a good speech. If we stand before his works they all give us tension, but then the feeling changes and comes to us as peacefulness.
In the first part of the exhibition despair is gradually elevated as the subject matter in the works approaches us as a single heavy lump. The distorted view of the city beyond the rainy window, broken down bricks, the dome-shaped tombs behind dead leaves, intertwined branches, chains, and broken sea shells all evoke the nature of death and tragedy. All these objects seem to be speaking about tragic life, and alienation of the modern human. The more we look into these works the more we feel identical emotions. That is because such empathy is a general sentiment held by modern humans who have lost their spiritual self and are living only by satisfying their physical ego.
The works in the second part, however, amplify hope for the viewers. The tragedy of humans that cannot be expressed in words before death is transformed into the joy of one with eternal life. The light shining through the clouds above the human figure entangled in wires is a clue that suggests hope. As the photograph can transform a limited object into an eternal one through imagery, Choi calls out through his photographs that a will toward a certain subject of truth can transform limited life into an eternal life.
If we look at his photographs and then see the world, it looks different. Art that presents an alternative viewpoint of the world is true art. Art puts a hold on death. Yisak Choi is a true photographer who knows the taste of photography. His photography is a resonance of the soul which awakens the spirits of those who are alienated, those who are in despair, and those who are confined.