interview Kim Mihyun X Kim Geumyoung
A photograph of a man in the shower. A strange feeling of watching a private life arrests the eyes on the picture, which shows a man’s naked body slightly disguising his intimate parts. However, the feeling was not invasive, as if I was peeping at him. Perhaps it is because the figure in the photograph seems to be very natural, as if he was nonchalantly continuing his normal daily routine. This was the first impression taken away from Kim Mihyun’s new Bathroom series, which has an intensity but also a modest comfort. I wondered what other scenes might feature in the works of Kim.
Kim Geumyoung (Kim): It seems that this you haven’t held solo exhibition in Korea for a long time?
Kim Mihyun (Kim): Indeed. I have had exhibitions and consistently shown my work, but I haven’t held an exhibition for a very long time in Korea. I had a solo exhibition at a gallery for photography in Gangnam in the early 1990s and participated in ‘As Moon Waxes and Wanes’ in 2017, an exhibition marks the 30th anniversary of Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) Gwacheon. It is the first time in around 20 years. This exhibition presents the series, Paris by Night, Seoul Itinerant Bar, Kiss, and the new series Bathroom, as well as still photos.
Kim: You are working as a photographer now, but the opportunity that took you to Paris, where you are living, was ‘film’.
Kim: The beginning of my work is in film. During the four years of my studies in Seoul in the 1980s, I watched many French films in the basement of the French Cultural Institute in Samcheong-dong, Seoul and I loved them. I shared this love with some other students, and we founded a Cine Club to screen French films every week. I graduated in Health Education at Ewha Womans University, but I took the entrance exam and entered the Graduate school of Education of Audio-Visual Instruction at the same university again. It wasn’t as much fun as I expected, however, and even at times boring. What I wanted to study was the practice in the field, but in reality all we did was analyse terms and theories from behind a desk. After I finished the first semester, I was troubled by the curriculum. Just at that moment, I was offered an opportunity to go to France for language training. The first plan was a year of stay, but all of my friends who came with me applied for universities in French. I also applied, because trying wouldn’t do any harm. Well, the Paris III University accepted me. So, I went to Paris and began to study film in 1985, eventually settling here and remaining for the last 33 years.
Kim: What attracted to French films?
Kim: I like the unique atmosphere of French films. The atmosphere is original, brilliant, and free, rather than what we’ve come to consider of standard commercial films. When I was watching movies at French Institute, I didn’t understand the meaning because the films had only English subtitles, but it was enough to begin my addiction. Also, I thought French is an agreeable language to listen to. Most of all, the works of François Truffaut impressed me. The Nouvelle Vague, which means the New Wave, began in the late 1950s as a reaction to the collapsing and outmoded French film industry. There were a lot of experimental films that pursued newness and innovation at that time. François Truffaut was one of the representative film makers of the Nouvelle Vague movement. His works always give me a refreshing jolt.
Kim: So, when did you change your studies and career path from film studies to photography?
Kim: When I was studying film at University of Paris III, I also took a photography class. In this class, I witnessed photographic works that I have never seen before, and I felt interested again. I was surprised to be able to express my thoughts through photography. Also, its way of working fits my personality. It is important to collaborate to make a film, but I’m quite individualistic. I love both photography and film, but I thought that photography would be a better medium for freeing my thoughts. Since then, I transferred to a photography school and continued to study the master’s course in the University of Paris VIII. At that time, one of my professors at the university suggested I might like to work at the Métis Agency, and this was the beginning of my career as a photographer.
Kim: We should talk about your representative work, the Paris by Night series. You took photos of the café culture across numerous places in Paris. What fascination does the café hold for you?
Kim: The café culture in Paris is unique. From dawn, the workers go to read the newspaper, to eat the food, to meet friends, drink, and spend time relaxing as in their living room. In the early 1990s, open spaces that could be freely accessed regardless of age and gender were not common in Korea. It was so charming to see open and comfortable cafes in Paris. Moreover, cafés at night were particularly unique. It seems like the darkness covers people with a kind of warmth.
Kim: It looks like the night is a particular temporal zone for you, considering the title of the exhibition ‘Nightcall’ and of your Paris by Night series.
Kim: I like the night, but I don’t insist on taking pictures only at night. The Bathroom series was taken in the morning and during the day. The Paris by Night series began with the participation in a photo exhibition. It was held at Carnavalet Museum, Paris, in November 1994 with members of the Métis Agency. Its theme was Paris by Night. Until I received this subject, I usually took still life photographs. While preparing the exhibition, I went out to the café for the first time and started to take pictures of people there. I would say that said the agency opened my artistic world to create the series of Paris by Night.
Kim: You have taken pictures of the café culture in Paris and of itinerant bars in Seoul. The switch between the places is noticeable. Are there any connections between those two places?
Kim: When I took pictures of cafés in Paris, I quite naturally wanted to demarcate a different kind of spaces than those found in Korea. But I didn’t know what to consider when I came to Korea. At that time, I thought the landscape of Korea seemed tacky. In early 2000, when I returned to Korea for a spell, the old and inurbane itinerant bars looked beautiful. If the place where the French meet, talk and share a day with each other in Paris is cafés, then in Korea, it is the itinerant bar. It is a place where you can feel the emotions of Koreans while sharing a pleasant chat over a drink. Since then, when I come back to Korea, I meet my friends at an itinerant bar. I spontaneously talk to the people at the next table and would take pictures when they relaxed and accepted my presence.
Kim: Do you think your experience of studying films allows you to melt into the picture? When I look at the images without prior knowledge of the shooting process, it seems that you have captured a cinematic scene. It seems like that there is something hidden in the people in the picture, and I feel that I’m facing one of the many scenes of a story. So, must admit I was confused as to whether they are ever directed scenes?
Kim: I didn’t mean to direct, but people said it’s like still cut images. It is not the scene I made intentionally. When I take a picture, the moment my presence becomes dim is critical. People are conscious of the camera when they are told they will be photographed. Then their expression and behaviour often becomes awkward. So, I wait until they forget my presence and act natural again. I’ve even waited all day long. I have three principles to take a picture: no flash, no direction, and maintaining a respectable distance. I don’t want an artificial expression changed for a moment by using the flash. I try to fit into the atmosphere without directing. This reliable distance is essential, too. It is this distance, not too close, not too far, and people can exist with me comfortably without being too conscious. So, I use a standard lens rather than a telephoto lens.
Kim: The series of Kiss, after the Paris by Night and Seoul Itinerant Bar seem like they went a step further into the more private aspects of people’s lives. Primarily, why did you choose to focus on scenes of homosexual kissing?
Kim: In 2013, there were enormous protests against the homosexual marriage law in France. Homosexual couples were denigrated, and they began to be less visible. I made the Kiss series hoping it could be a little help in changing people’s thinking about homosexual couples. It is love that I captured in this series. I also wanted to make something new rather than the usual. There are so many photos of the kiss of heterosexual couples, but the ones of the homosexual aren’t common.
For this series, the model is more crucial than Paris by Night and Seoul Itinerant Bar. I have a homosexual couple that are my friends, and they introduced other couples. Again, I didn’t direct and took pictures of their natural kisses.
Kim: The new work Bathroom series, which is presented to the public for the first time, makes an even stronger impression than your earlier work. This time, your focus is the bathroom.
Kim: From their creation, bathrooms have been a very secret and private space. Even family members who have lived together for decades do not know what their families are doing in the bathroom. I wanted to take photos of this private space. From the café and the itinerant bar to the room of homosexual couples and the bathroom, the object has changed, but the subject I have been shooting from the beginning is the same. It is beauty. People who spend time in cafés and itinerant bars were beautiful, and the kiss of homosexual couples expressing love was beautiful, too. This time I wanted to explore the way men groom themselves. Stories about women that pursue ideals and beauty have been discussed a lot, but the way men view their appearance has not been well portrayed from the past. However, now men also seek their beauty proudly. I said, ‘you don’t have to take off your clothes. I want to take faithful depictions of your behaviours to obtain beauty, whether it is brushing teeth or shaving’. However, at some point, they forgot my presence and took a shower and sang. It went well, even if it was a massive challenge for both the photographer and the model.
Kim: What is beauty, do you think?
Kim: People have different standards of beauty. The beauty I think of is what purifies and makes us feel pleasant and comfortable. Its form could be fancy, dull, or old-fashioned. Nevertheless, if the viewer perceives a pleasant feeling of happiness, isn’t that real beauty? I would like to release the shutter at a moment such beauty comes into my eye.