BYUN Soonchoel

To BYUN Soonchoel (b.1969), who is deeply engaged with portrait photography, the people in front of his camera are always more than the subject itself. Since the characters he has observed and dealt with, such as multiracial couples, families of displaced people, the participants of National Song Contest, and immigrants living in the West, are representing the period and society at that time, and his gaze and attitude are based on sociological methodology. Generally a typological portrait deals with people belonging to a specific group of the period, which are naturally contains the cultural backgrounds and history of the period. His works are looked into the human psychology which is not easily revealed on the surface, through a sociological methodology that finds the principle of social relations by typological presentation of repeated similar language and the common denominator of represented images. The collections of character that his camera silently capture reveals an attitude towards the society and a unique sense of problem that is far beyond the reality.

BYUN Soonchoel received B.F.A. in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York, and awarded the FGI Year of the Photographer, Korea (2000), John Kobal Photographic Portrait Award, UK (1999), and Piea International Photo Competitions, USA (1998). BYUN held solo exhibitions at Sungkok Art Museum (Seoul, Korea), The Korea Society (New York, US) in 2020, GoEun Museum of Photography (Busan, Korea) in 2018, Asia Culture Center (Gwagju, Korea), Kumho Museum of Art (Seoul, Korea) in 2016, Insa Art Center (Seoul, Korea) in 2015, Seoul Museum of Art (Seoul, Korea) in 2014, Space DA (Beijing, China) in 2008, and SSamzie Gallery (Seoul, Korea) in 2005. BYUN participated in numerous group exhibitions and festivals, which including Asia Publication Culture & Information Center (Paju, Korea) in 2018, Korean Cultural Center (Brussels, Belgium) in 2017, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul, Korea) in 2016, Seoul Museum of Art (Seoul, Korea) in 2015, Somerest House (London, UK), National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (Taiwan) in 2010, Dali International Photo Festival (Dali, China), Risweyi International Photo Festival (Risweyi, China) Lianzhou International Photo Festival (Lianzhou, China) in 2009, and Art Sonje Center (Seoul, Korea) in 2007.