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theses

This dissertation examines the photography made by South Korean photographers, focusing on the medium’s relationship to the political and societal changes that have been occurring in and around the country that started in the late 1980s. Focusing on art photography that took various formats from documentary to the performative, encompassing the staged, portraits, and snapshots, the dissertation addresses the development of a medium that is intertwined with the transformation of Korean society. Represented with democratization and globalization, South Korea reorganized its political system and opened its doors to the world in this era. This dissertation argues that the transformation of contemporary Korean art photography is not only a reflection of this essential reconstruction of the nation’s identity, but that of the medium itself, with its performative nature, mediated the process. The exploration starts from the early practices of the mid-20th century Korean photography and moves on to the thematic discussions of how contemporary photography addressed the key issues that mark the transition.
When the long history of military dictatorship ended in the late 1980s and democracy arrived in Korea, the nation reestablished its identity by declaring a break from the past, refashioning its history, and building new relationships with other countries, including North Korea. This dissertation argues that the history of Korean photography parallels these shifts. Unlike in the past, when photographers had limited choices regarding what they could depict and had limited photographic models to refer to, contemporary photographers, with newly obtained freedom and various photographic languages, revisited the repressed history, reinterpreted official history, and deconstructed it according to the changed socio-political climate. As the state-led globalization positioned Korean identity into the international context, Korean photography too went through the process of challenging the preexisting notions and striving to position itself in global photography.
Fully incorporating the social, political, and cultural history of Korea and the surrounding international contexts, this dissertation takes an interdisciplinary approach in articulating the history of the nation’s photography. With an emphasis on a need to contextualize artistic practices into its society, it improves the understanding of contemporary Korea and its photographic practices.

ETD_9736

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-dg6t-4y85

ETD doctoral

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