YONSEI UNIVERSITY’S photography group YONYOUNG was founded in 1966 and has held a total of 104 exhibitions since. Yon-young is a combination of Chinese characters, yon (延), from Yonsei, and young (影), representing “shadow.” The meaning of the club’s name shows their hopes to “create a new order in the world with pictures made of light and shadow.”

They held their 55th annual photography exhibition from August 31 to September 4 at the Atleon Gallery located in Changcheon-dong, Seodaemun-gu. The photo exhibition is also named “Yon-young,” but formed by different Chinese characters, meaning “relationship” and “forever.” The change in the character’s meaning is representative of their exhibit’s theme: "being grateful for our current relationships and to look forward to the future ones.” This exhibition includes the photographs taken by 23 members and alumni from the past 50 years, with more than 100 works under the same theme but of various genres, including documentary photos, directing photos, and street photos.

The Yonsei Annals exhibits ten photographs that highlight their exhibition’s theme along with the photographers’ personal stories and interpretations.

Silence

52nd Ha Ji-hun (Class of ’17, Dept. of Economics)

“During the days of uncertainty, without answers to the future, I went to the shore. The waves lathered by the wind on the cloudy days were the same as my scattered mind. I wanted to capture the very emotion I felt in photographs. The swaying ocean is still my mirror.

I would like to replace the rest of this with a quote from a book I read at the time.”

“So sad is a man, Lord, so blue is the sea.” Endo Shusaku

The Surface of Building

55th Kim Dae-seong (Fresh., Dept. of Medicine)

“There is a myriad of buildings in Seoul—the place my photograph will be displayed in, where you are standing, looking at this picture right now, and the halls the photographer myself is walking in. Buildings occupy an important space in our lives.

High-rise buildings are homes of Korean people. People drink water here, sleep here, and write things here with pencils and laptops. It is dynamic. The inside of a building is full of movement. The exterior wall of the building, however, hides such dynamics. I photographed the exterior of the building. The exterior is breathtakingly simple and repetitive. Why not imagine the diverse landscape behind the windows?”

Portion

55th Choi Jeong-woo (Sr., School of Business)

“Humans have repeatedly created and destroyed for centuries. Endless desires have finally created beings greater than themselves. Are human beings essentially the world, and is the world essentially human? Regardless of the angle from which we view the world, I wanted to say that we humans are mere 'portions' that occupy small spaces in the world.”

Bucket list

54th Lee Jae-hwa (Class of ’09, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering)

“It was never on my bucket list.

But I just wanted to fulfill it for her.

That was how I started photography.

To capture wholly on my camera today, that which is younger than tomorrow and beautiful in this moment.”

“Les Regrets Reveries Couleur Du Temps”

55th Lee Ho-jeong (Jr., Dept. of Philosophy)

“You can understand a person's world by looking at their bookshelf. A quiet, solid, and free world. I wanted to combine this world with another world I love. I wanted to read the world of others. Phrases that catch their eyes, and their habits as they turn the page.

However, exploration of worlds is not easy. People are unexpectedly intuitive, require numerous formulas, and are overly three-dimensional. In that respect, it resembles Marcel Proust's poem ‘Les Regrets Reveries Couleur Du Temps.’ They occupy their own time and color.

I tried to capture the moment. The moment where Proust in the bookcase meets the others outside to trigger a world of fantasy and daydreams, the moments that are even more fascinating because of the unknown.”

Way Back Home

55th Roh Yeon-soo (Sr., Dept. of Industrial Engineering)

“I wanted to capture 'happiness' on camera.

When asked to think about my definition of happiness before taking pictures, I envisioned myself on the way to meet my family in Singapore.

I believe that this memory is remembered as ‘happiness’ because at the end of a long journey above the sky, there were always wholesome times spent with family who welcomed me with bright smiles.

In hopes of being able to meet the faces I miss again after this year, I captured a part of my way back home.”

Always

55th Hong Yu-jeong (Sr., Dept. of Chemical & Biomole. Engin.)

“This summer's sky was exceptionally radiant and colorful. I wanted to take out the sky from my camera’s memory and give it to you one by one hoping for it to greet you, as you hold your head high walking on the street you have always walked on, in the room you have always been in, and walking through the entrance you have always walked past.”

Afterimage

53th Lee Jun-hyung (Jr., UIC, Economics)

“The happy and thoughtless college freshman days ended once I was enlisted in the army. It has been more than half a year after my military service, but my feelings are still like a whirlpool. Human relationships, college life, social problems, family, career, and lovers—these cause turbulent waves in my mind that is longing to be quiet.

The more you live, the more thoughts you have, the more complicated your mind becomes, and you realize that you cannot encompass your mind through just one thing. I tried to capture my feelings onto a film using double exposure. Double exposure refers to a photographing technique that exposes multiple scenes in a single film frame.

Once exposed, the film cannot be restored. The scene does not erase and remains an afterimage. The wounds we get also do not recover. It remains a part of who I am.

I used the Canon AE-1 film camera that I first used four years ago when I was free from thoughts to capture my current complicated and subtle emotions.”

Green Mart

55th Yoon Chae-young (Sr., Dept. of Political Science and International Studies)

"My beloved Green Mart—the small store that remains unchanged for decades and shares small joys with residents, street cats, and all other members of my town.

With a heart full of respect and gratitude, I took a picture of this place. I captured moments of residents coming in and out of it, as well as colorful elements of the store.

I hope that those who look at this picture will be able to bring out their deeper memories, starting from their memories at a small supermarket.”

Looking

55th Jang Ha-young (Jr., Dept. of Psychology)

“Our brain only sees what it chooses to see. I used a mirror to express that what we see is not everything. Just as two perspectives exist between the ground and the sky in this picture, I hope we can think about our perspectives and beyond together.”