OVERVIEW

AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT AND SOCIOLOGIST PHILIP SLATER NEATLY ENCAPSULATED THE DISTRUST WITHIN LIBERAL WESTERN THOUGHT OF EXCESSIVE CONFORMITY MANIFESTED THROUGH THE USE OF UNIFORMS WHEN HE SAID THAT ‘A PERSON IN A UNIFORM IS MERELY AN EXTENSION OF ANOTHER PERSON’S WILL.’ IT IS HARDLY SURPRISING THAT THE UNIFORM HAS TAKEN ON SUCH NEGATIVE CONNOTATIONS IN THE WEST CONSIDERING THE IMPORTANT ROLE IT HAS PLAYED IN THE MILITARY SPHERE CULMINATING IN THE BLOODBATH OF THE 20TH CENTURY WORLD WARS. IN EAST ASIA, HOWEVER, WHERE FOR VARIOUS REASONS THE NOTION OF INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM IS NOT CELEBRATED AND PURSUED WITH THE SAME VIGOUR AS IN THE WEST, PEOPLE HAVE A DIFFERENT OUTLOOK. JAPAN FIRST, AND LATER SOUTH KOREA AS A DIRECT RESULT OF JAPANESE INFLUENCE, HAVE EMBRACED A CULTURE OF UNIFORMS AND SUBSUMED THIS CULTURE INTO THEIR HIGHLY COMPETITIVE, FAST-PACED CONSUMERIST SOCIETIES. IN THIS SERIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS I TAKE A LOOK AT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY IN SOUTH KOREA THROUGH DOUBLE PORTRAITS OF PEOPLE THAT WEAR UNIFORMS OF ONE KIND OR ANOTHER. I BELIEVE THAT THIS SERIES OF IMAGES SHOWS THAT WHILE KOREANS HAVE CONFORMED OUT OF NECESSITY FOR THE GREATER GOOD, AND FROM DUTY INSTILLED THROUGH ITS CONFUCIAN HERITAGE THAT INSISTS ON RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY AND HIERARCHY, THEY HAVE ALSO TAKEN THEIR USE OF UNIFORMS FURTHER, ALMOST TO THE REALM OF PERFORMANCE, LIKE COSTUMES IN A DRAMA THAT PLAYS ITSELF OUT EVERYDAY IN THE NATION’S VIBRANT NEON CITIES. THIS IS A PERSONAL SERIES THAT I TOOK AS A PHOTOGRAPHER DOUBLE PORTRAYS IN SEOUL AND OTHER PARTS OF SOUTH KOREA.