Forest for the Trees. Myoung Ho Lee’s photos use a complicated process to create a simple image: trees separated from their surroundings, hinting at the world beyond. In this series, “TREE,” the “photography-act” is more than a click. The canvas that frames each tree is there by human design, turning the object into a subject, pulling it out of the landscape. Myoung Ho Lee is represented by Gallery Zandari, Seoul, Korea (prints are available through Lens Culture).
His latest exhibition “TREE” shows at Zandari through Nov. 19, 2008. In addition to his art, Myoung Ho Lee lectures in photography at Seoul’s Joong-Ang University. All photographs © Myoung Ho Lee, courtesy Gallery Zandari. What initially drew you to photography? Photography is an appealing art medium. So far I have worked mostly in Korea. What do you like about trees? Trees are attractive objects in that they enable people to think philosophically and appreciate aesthetically. I intended to optimize my work. I can say yes. Yes. Animals Twice Dead. Richard Barnes’s new book, Animal Logic, his first monograph, is currently my favorite new art book. For anyone mesmerized by natural history museums as a child, Barnes’s photographs are dislocating, off-putting adult hocus-pocus—portraits of animals in various states of preservation and transit, removed many degrees from anything remotely wild. Richard Barnes’s photographs are in numerous public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
He was a recipient of the Rome Prize in 2005. All photos courtesy Princeton Architectural Press, copyright the artist, all rights reserved. What drew you to natural history museums as a subject? I have been interested in museums and especially natural history museums for a long time. Did you ever build dioramas as a child? What’s it like to see the exhibits deconstructed, to see the animals packed up, even further removed from their habitats? Is photography an act of preservation? What are you working on now? Lens culture photo book review: Paris-New York-Shanghai.
Interactives | Exhibitions | 2007 | Jeff Wall. Brian Crowley | Photographer.