Photographing Bicycle Culture for Bicycle Print

I photographed the latest edition of Bicycle Print with a focus on bicycle culture in Seoul. The work looks at how cycling shapes daily routines, creative practice, and personal identity.

Rather than focusing on bicycles alone, the magazine stays close to people. My photographs follow cyclists, makers, and collectors who build their lives around movement and repair.

Stories Beyond the Bicycle

Bicycle Print does not treat cycling as a product or trend. Instead, it looks at the relationships people form through riding, building, and collecting.

This issue brings together a range of voices. Some contributors work directly with bicycles. Others connect to cycling through art, design, or everyday use. Together, these stories show how cycling becomes part of a wider way of living.

Looking Outside Seoul

While Seoul remains a strong reference point, the magazine also includes international perspectives. This issue features work from Bonshaker, which documents cycling culture across different countries.

It also looks at Japan’s Itatchari scene and at Pifteen, which operates a shared bicycle system in Goyang. These examples add context and show how cycling adapts to different environments.

Custom Bicycles and Small Workshops

A central feature of this issue focuses on bicycle customization. I photographed custom frames, hand-built components, and painted surfaces that sit far from mass production.

These bicycles reflect individual choices. They come out of small workshops where craft, technology, and trial shape each object. In this context, the bicycle becomes both tool and expression.

Small Worlds in Motion

Since its first issue in November 2014, Bicycle Print has focused on people who build their own small worlds around cycling. Frame builders, painters, mechanics, and accessory makers all appear in these pages.

What connects them is not style or discipline, but attention. Each person works slowly and with intent, often outside established systems.

Publishing Through Propaganda Press

Bicycle Print is available in major bookstores across Seoul and through Propaganda Press. The publisher focuses on subculture, popular culture, and architecture, with an interest in subjects that often sit outside the mainstream. Their approach values research, editing, and long-term commitment. This way of working matches the rhythm of the magazine.

Working on the Issue

Photographing this issue meant staying close and paying attention. I followed people in workshops, on streets, and in quiet moments between rides. Rather than building a statement, the work records how cycling lives inside everyday routines. Through these images, Bicycle Print continues to document cycling as a shared and evolving culture.