Jhan Park (b. 1967)
Düsseldorf, Germany
ecoming a music composer was my dream as a child. Composing music was what brought me the most joy as a young boy. However, I gave up my dreams; and like many others, I chose a safer and more ordinary path of life.One day, as I was looking at Ahae’s photographs, I was greatly inspired by his work. Through just one window, he was able to deliver such diversity, capturing the beautiful transformation of his scenery. I came to realize that it was the light that allowed him to express himself through his work. Ahae expressed that he “captures the traces of light.” Therefore, I too tried to capture light inside my very own camera. I am not capturing the objects but the light itself. No matter how many countless photographs I took of the same object, every photograph would turn out to be nonetheless unique. Light had shown me its diverse and intricate range of characteristics.
I never know the exact outcome of my shot. And this particular uncertainty makes the whole work so interesting. My greatest joy lies in the expectation of the unexpected outcome. There is no perfect shot, but there is always perfect beauty and the uniqueness of the light by itself. The combination of the light, the light angle, the object and the wind allow the camera to capture the light in its various colors and tracks. These parameters lead the light into the transformation of various colors and forms as well. The outcome is always totally different from what the eye sees. There is nothing I can create by my own. This phenomenon simply happens and is always there.
I myself understand art as a discovery of something which is already there. There is nothing new we create, but rather we see things with different eyes. And it was the eyes of that very camera that enabled me to discover and to see things in a different way.
At all times this light surrounds us, but we never take notice of it with our eyes. But now, I am able to experience and enjoy the beauty of light through my camera as much as I can, to my pleasure, similar to the joy that once overflowed when music had touched my young musician's heart.
This photograph is one of the first spiderweb photographs I ever took. When I saw this photograph, I could not believe my eyes. I took a photograph of a spiderweb, but I couldn't see it. I was wondering what have I taken? Then I realized it was the pure light from the spiderweb that my lens had captured. Looking at this photograph I was fascinated by the specifications of color. And that was the beauty of the light. This photograph won the AHAE photo contest in 2016. And when I was able to present all my spiderweb photographs I could observe how the viewers were captivated and held the same fascination as me. We all had the same feelings and emotions. The beauty of the light had an impact on all of us, making us feel joyful. Indeed, light is wonderful.
I remember that the back garden of my childhood home was surrounded by golden bell trees. Every spring our surroundings would turn a brilliant yellow. I fell deeply in love with the shining golden flowers because the yellow color gave me a warm and soft feeling. From then on yellow became my favorite color. Among the adults there was a saying that someone who likes yellow is a very stubborn person. Because of this I avoided saying that I liked the color yellow. But when I grew up, I learned that Van Gogh liked the color yellow very much; and sometimes he painted everything in yellow, for he saw the whole of nature as yellow. Some say that it was a symptom of a disease that made him see yellow. But anyway, I was so relieved and glad that he was expressing the light with the color yellow. And to my surprise I have found this yellow on the spiderweb. Yes, indeed the spiderweb is yellow, and that's definitely my favorite color.
One day when I was a ten-year-old boy I visited one of my school friends at his home. He showed me his aquarium, in which he was feeding tadpoles. They were really small and cute, and all of them had small, long tails. As the tadpoles grew, the tails would shorten and the back and front legs would continuously form until the tadpoles became frogs. I thought that was so great, and I decided to have one in my home as well. The next day I rushed into the forest and found a small pond, and to my surprise a lot of tadpoles were in it. I was very happy. I caught them in a small plastic bag and came home with the dream that I would take care of them until they became frogs, and then I would bring them back to their home. When I showed them proudly to my mom, she was not happy about that idea. And before I even asked for an aquarium, she yelled that I should throw away those disgusting animals and that she would never allow me to bring such things home. I had no choice. I had to take them back. But it had already darkened, and the pond was too far away. So I had to pour out my tadpoles onto the ground near the forest. They tried to swim, but the water soon disappeared into the ground. When I ran back home and lay on my bed that evening, I felt so sorry for them. I wished that it would rain the whole night just to keep them alive. After a long time had passed and I had already forgotten about it, this photograph popped up before my eyes. I instantly said to myself, "Wow, they are still alive."
Through my artwork I am showing the beauty and perfection of light. The spiderweb is just an example. My photographs visualize the fascinating aspect of light that can transform simple objects into beautiful, fantastical, colorful forms. It is up to the imagination and fantasy of the viewers what they see and what they feel about it. I wish everyone would see his or her story connected to these photographs as I do. Then the photographs would become more alive through their vision. Everyone, whether young or old, enjoys the light. And that is indeed my joy – to see the viewers having the same emotion and rejoicing every time they look at these artworks.Every shot is unique.
Every moment is unique.
Every feeling is unique.
Every light is unique.
