Overview

AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT AND SOCIOLOGIST PHILIP SLATER ONCE DESCRIBED THE ISSUE OF EXCESSIVE CONFORMITY IN THE WEST BY SAYING THAT “A PERSON IN A UNIFORM IS MERELY AN EXTENSION OF ANOTHER PERSON’S WILL.” THIS STATEMENT REFLECTS A LONG HISTORY OF DISTRUST TOWARD UNIFORMS IN LIBERAL WESTERN SOCIETY, WHICH IS NOT SURPRISING GIVEN THEIR ROLE IN THE MILITARY AND THE VIOLENCE OF THE 20TH CENTURY WORLD WARS.

IN EAST ASIA, HOWEVER, THE VIEW OF UNIFORMS DIFFERS. INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM HAS NOT BEEN CELEBRATED IN THE SAME WAY AS IN THE WEST, AND SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS PLAY A MUCH STRONGER ROLE. JAPAN FIRST, AND LATER SOUTH KOREA THROUGH JAPANESE INFLUENCE, EMBRACED A CULTURE OF UNIFORMS. THESE UNIFORMS FIT EASILY INTO BOTH COUNTRIES’ HIGHLY COMPETITIVE AND FAST-PACED CONSUMER SOCIETIES.

IN THIS PHOTO SERIES, I LOOK AT HOW PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY APPEAR IN SOUTH KOREA THROUGH DOUBLE PORTRAITS OF PEOPLE WHO WEAR DIFFERENT TYPES OF UNIFORMS. THE SERIES SUGGESTS THAT KOREANS HAVE OFTEN CONFORMED FOR THE SAKE OF THE COMMUNITY AND OUT OF A CONFUCIAN SENSE OF DUTY THAT VALUES AUTHORITY AND HIERARCHY. AT THE SAME TIME, MANY PEOPLE USE UNIFORMS IN A MORE EXPRESSIVE WAY. THEY WEAR THEM ALMOST LIKE COSTUMES IN A DAILY PERFORMANCE SET AGAINST THE BRIGHT, NEON LANDSCAPE OF THE CITY.

THIS IS A PERSONAL SERIES THAT I SHOT AS A PHOTOGRAPHER IN SEOUL AND OTHER PARTS OF SOUTH KOREA.

PHOTOGRAPHER

NILS CLAUSS

CLIENT

PERSONAL