Argus Paul Estabrook
Wangsimni to Jamsil
Life Framer Photography Prize Winner, Category: Street Life
Photographer's statement:
Photographing the Seoul Metro is a time of reflection for me. Although I was born in South Korea, I was raised in a rural, predominantly white area of the United States that culturally distanced me from my mother’s country. Since moving to Seoul, I’ve made a habit of haunting the metro. I can spend days jumping from line to line, taking in as much as I can. I could say it’s because I want to go somewhere new but that isn’t the full truth; I’m exactly where I want to be. The metro is where the “real” Seoul congregates: true lives that won’t be portrayed in tourism ads or K-pop songs. Travelers on our own journeys, we pass and disappear in a blink of an eye. Here we are all away from home. Is that where our similarities end? We may share heritage and fleeting travels, but as a foreign gyopo, I fear I won’t be able to overcome my sense of separation. The commuters remain to me as apparitions, echoes of light and shadow on the subway walls and windows. Is it an otherness I feel inclined to understand or facets of myself? All I know is I must raise my camera — Click.
"This image really caught my attention. I pause to decipher what I'm actually seeing. Is the larger shadowy figure the photographer themselves, or is it another passenger on the subway? Am I looking at a reflection or through a window? It reminds me of an x-ray. I like photos where the viewer can make up their own story." - Bruce Gilden (Judge comment)