Before Winter
Before Winter is a photo diary, a long trip from Seoul to the cold winter sea, located between the border of North Korea and South Korea. The road trip became a cleansing experience allowing to balance back the emotions, remember the meaning of friendship, and allow creativity to unfold freely, in a natural way. Eiji, Myeongro, and Sunghee met during a mutual work on the shoot and became friends off the set. As the story unfolds, Eiji offered to shoot with the sea in the background. So, the team decided to embark on the journey and improvise at the location.
We come along in a viewer mode to appreciate the atmosphere during the drive and once in nature. Sunghee says, “I mainly used a Canon camera, while a Samurai camera was handed over to my friends so they could shoot freely.”
This is a distinctive opportunity to gain a visualization from several angles and multiple gazes: the photographer’s and the models’. Genuine, intense, personal photographs emerge. Strong and beautiful portraits captivate the viewer’s eye. Inherently emotionally charged shoot uses elements of water drops, grains of sand, stones, and the chill of the moment as a gift - letting us into the other’s experience.
Photography Sunghee Moon Talents Eiji at Donna Major Artist Korea Dolls Model Management D1 Models London WM Management Maengno Lee at Link Management Korea
‘I wanted to take a new image that was different from my previous work, and I thought it would be nice if the sea would be in the background. Therefore, I suggested this trip to Sunghee.’
Tell about this decision to take a long trip to the sea with your friends. How did it come about?
Eiji: I wanted to take a new image that was different from my previous work, and I thought it would be nice if the sea would be in the background. Therefore, I suggested this trip to Sunghee; Myeongro, was driving, and we went on a trip with the team.
Sunghee: First, I want to introduce the team members. We all met while I was working on a different shoot. Eiji has a different nationality; he is Japanese. Myeongro is currently working as an actor. I have met a lot of people while working on that shoot, but these two friends are truly unconditional. They are grateful and supportive. One day, Eiji offered us to work with an image of the sea in the background, and I accepted it because it was Eiji. We needed someone to drive, which I suggested to Myeongro. That was the beginning of this trip. It was improvised.
Myeongro: Eiji and Sunghee asked me to join this project. Since I wanted to help, I naturally decided to join. Lots of fun things had happened when we worked together before. Those memories have led me to join the project. My major motivation is the time we spent together.
‘When I stand in front of the lens, I tend to observe people persistently. I project my feelings onto them, and I also try to find the feeling that is unique to that person. I tend to act according to the emotion of the moment.’
In the shoot, Before Winter, you create a meta-story in which you’re being photographed, while you take pictures. Tell about the experience of being both in front and behind the lens. What cameras did you use?
Sunghee: Instinctively, I always work with someone, whom I am attracted to, and have had enough conversations and time to understand each other before the project starts. When I stand in front of the lens, I tend to observe people persistently. I project my feelings onto them, and I also try to find the feeling that is unique to that person. I tend to act according to the emotion of the moment. When I am working, I try to remember the temperature of the day as much as possible and find the picture that feels closest to the day when I did the shooting.
In this project, I used Yashica Samurai, Canon EOS 5D film camera, and black and white film. Before we left this trip, we still didn’t know the reason, but only black and white film images appeared in everyone's heads. I mainly used a Canon camera, while a Samurai camera was handed over to my friends so they could shoot freely.
The camera becomes an additional character in this shoot. It’s being photographed, it passes from the photographer’s hands to the hands of your friends, the models, who in turn become photographers. Tell about these shifts. How do you think it allowed the story to unfold differently?
Sunghee: At first, I thought it would be boring if Myeongro simply drives. I know that usually when the person comes as an assistant, they will be bored to watch the shooting. However, I thought it would be good if Myeongro participated in this work. I like the feeling of landscape photos that Myeongro takes on Instagram with the cell phone. I deeply like Myeongro’s unaffected and honest gaze.
The day before the first shooting day, I offered to Myeongro to take pictures. After discussing this, we started to push the shutter-release button. At that time, our subject could be anything, so we started to take photos of ourselves. Perhaps I wanted to find comfort and inspiration from unaffected photos. When I work with models, I hate shooting that focuses on the feeling the photographer wants to get. Eiji, the model in the shoot, has a soft power that cannot be expressed in words. When we are together, we are naturally assimilated. Myeongro liked taking pictures more than me. Naturally, Myeongro was the model when I was taking a break from Eiji; when I was working with Eiji, Myeongro took pictures of me. I thought it would be nice if this work will be shown as some kind of a road movie. I want to follow the feelings of my gaze and my friends' gaze.
‘I purely enjoyed taking pictures. When I scanned the film, I was laughing seeing the images. I felt happy, as if something healed.’
Some strong portraits convey a powerful emotional background. What were some of the feelings during this trip?
Sunghee: Recently, I had a big slump with a lot of emotions coming from the series, even denying the pictures I took. I was nervous and unsure of myself. I started with the thought that the pictures were taken well, but the moment came when everything became meaningless. In this project, when I arrived at the sea, I was overwhelmed by the scenery. It was so beautiful that I forgot we came to take pictures. My gaze was going from the landscape to my friends, and I just observed them. When I saw my friends, my emotions crossed, and I was grateful at that moment. With this work, I learned that technically good and perfectly composed photographs are not the only main thing. I purely enjoyed taking pictures. When I scanned the film, I was laughing seeing the images. I felt happy, as if something healed.
Myeongro: I always wanted to have freedom and joy when I was taking photos, but it never showed when I thought of it as work. This time, maybe because of the two friends, I finally had a feeling of freedom and joy. Freedom for anything in the future will only come after spending such a time of agony, but it felt like a preview of the freedoms I will have in this life. I learned that I can be satisfied with myself only when I am free but not indulgent.
Eiji: It felt like traveling. I didn't feel like it was work. I just had a good time. It’s a happy memory.
‘People who live on the beach spoke roughly as if they were swept away. I thought that life near the sea had no choice but to resemble the sea.’
What is the most memorable moment or episode from the shooting day or being on the road?
Eiji: All of this trip is a memory, but jumping into the sea is an experience like I never had before. The photos taken at that time were great. After that, the process of throwing the jeans off and brushing the sand was so funny. We even robbed our jeans off sand and threw them on the street.
Myeongro: The sea moss dried up and became attached to the rock. It was like the sum of all the waves. The sandy beach and the surrounding iron fences all resembled the sea. The iron was rusted, and shells were hidden like stars among the sands. People who live on the beach spoke roughly as if they were swept away. I thought that life near the sea had no choice but to resemble the sea.
Sunghee: The scenery I remember the most, when I first arrived, was the most beautiful sea I've ever seen in Korea. The sea is far from Seoul, where I currently live, and it was a quiet place without anyone except for the military units on the border between South Korea and North Korea.
We were prepared to jump into the sea before arriving. Since in September, the Korean sea is really cold, I was planning to tell them that we better start shooting first before getting into the water. However, as soon as we arrived, we went into the water as if drawn by the scenery. We were foolish, but so happy. Eventually, we kept shivering from the cold and needed to change clothes on the street. It did not get into the final selection. I tried to do the underwater shooting for the first time but since it was so cold, I could not even press the shutter properly. My fingers were stamped all over the results. After the filming was over, we ran down the road without even knowing that the trunk of the car was open. When I got off after a while and checked it, all three of us laughed really loudly.
