The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    N. Korea holds politburo meeting to discuss Kim-Putin summit: KCNA

  • 3

    30 people purchased 8,000 homes: data

  • 5

    BTS member Suga begins mandatory military service

  • 7

    Kim Jong-un's rejection of Russia's food assistance irritates North Korean defectors

  • 9

    National Assembly passes motion to arrest DPK chief

  • 11

    Gender equality minister nominee in hot seat over remarks on abortion

  • 13

    US striving to stop NK's potential weapons support to Russia 'wherever we can': Blinken

  • 15

    Honey-dipped cookie to represent 'K-desserts' at global food expo in Germany

  • 17

    Aespa's VR concert to hit theaters Oct. 25

  • 19

    KG Mobility seeks breakthrough in Europe

  • 2

    Scientists find green way to turn CO2 into fuel with sunlight

  • 4

    BTS defies K-pop's 'seven-year curse'

  • 6

    BLACKPINK's contract renewal still in limbo

  • 8

    Rights experts from 17 countries demand release of North Korean escapees in China

  • 10

    Seoul invites ambassadors to introduce new halal foods in Korea

  • 12

    Yoon says arms deal between N. Korea, Russia would be 'direct provocation' against S. Korea

  • 14

    S. Korea condemns Russia, seeks to mend ties with China

  • 16

    Top court upholds life sentence for woman over drowning husband for insurance money

  • 18

    COVID-19 deaths hit record high in Korea for 2022

  • 20

    From friend to foe: NK athletes of 2018 joint Korean teams return as rivals to S. Korea

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
Sat, September 23, 2023 | 15:46
Fortune Telling
Discovering Beauty With Disposable Cameras
Posted : 2009-04-19 15:38
Updated : 2009-04-19 15:38
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link

Artist Janet Sternburg, left, poses with her husband Steven Lavine, the president of California Institute of Arts, next to her photo works at the Art & Technology Center at the Seoul Institute of Arts in Ansan, south of Seoul.
/ Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

While both professional and amateur photographers produce memorable photos with expensive and high-quality cameras, writer and photographer Janet Sternburg found true beauty with nothing but her disposable cameras.

`` When I developed (a) picture, it was no big deal, it was just a picture. But little by little I realized that I was seeing the world differently and that was when I realized that the disposable camera was not the last choice, (but) it was actually my friend,'' she told The Korea Times during an interview at the Seoul Institute of the Arts, Ansan, south of Seoul, last Friday.

``In the digital world, people just click, click, click. For me, when I use the camera, I wait and I almost always get what I want,'' she added.

Sternburg visited Korea with her husband, Steven Lavine, the president of California Institute of Arts, to celebrate the inauguration of the institute's new Art & Technology Center with her innovative multi-layered exhibition ``Fertile Confusion.''

Her works are a bit different from other photographs, which usually capture a single moment or subject. By using a disposable camera that lacks highly efficient functions and by working in front of windows and mirrors, Sternburg was able to capture subjects on the other side of the window and the reflection of the window at the same time, capturing two different worlds in one photograph.

With the help of video artist Ed Purver, she managed to bring her colorful works as prints, projections and choreographed on multiple monitors.

It was 12 years ago when she first discovered this unique art form. ``A happy accident,'' she called it.

``I had finished working on a memoir called `Phantom Limb.' We have a home in a small village in Mexico and I went there and went for a walk. I looked at a store window and suddenly, I saw beauty in front of me,'' she said.

There, Sternburg bought a disposable camera and captured the moment. The camera may not have had fancy features or functions, but for the artist, it was more than enough to bring out the unusual beauty she'd found unexpectedly.

``One of the great things about using a little harmless camera like a disposable (is that) nobody thinks you are trying to take a picture that is serious, they think you are a tourist. You cannot do professional things (to the photos) and because (we) cannot do that, that limitation is a great gift. The disposable camera would let me see all the layers of time and space that are present in a single moment,'' she said.

Sternburg is a writer ― a poet, memoirist, playwright ― and filmmaker and a photographer, often praised as a ``renaissance woman'' for the breadth and depth of her vision. Having published one of her best works, ``Phantom Limb: A Memoir'' in 2002 and ``The Writer on Her Work'' in 1992, she has explored various mediums, and when asked what she considered herself, she shrugged and said that narrowing it down was never a good thing.

``At first I thought, `Am I a writer? Am I a photographer? Which comes first? I thought about it because in this world people like you to be one thing or another, it is easier that way. But now I say that my writing and photography are having a conversation: wherever my work is, my books are there too. Saying that this is what I do is not as important as developing a vision a way of seeing the world. You have to think about how you see the world,'' Sternburg advised.

When finally asked how many disposable cameras she'd thrown away, Sternburg laughed and reminisced.

``Hundreds! I think they may be more expensive altogether than buying just one (digital camera),'' she said.

Sternburg's Fertile Confusion will continue through May 18 at the ATEC of Seoul Institute of Arts. For more information, visit www.seoularts.ac.kr/fertileconfusion.

sanghee@koreatimes.co.kr
 
miguel
Top 10 Stories
1Scientists find green way to turn CO2 into fuel with sunlightScientists find green way to turn CO2 into fuel with sunlight
2Kim Jong-un's rejection of Russia's food assistance irritates North Korean defectors Kim Jong-un's rejection of Russia's food assistance irritates North Korean defectors
3Opposition party in turmoil as leader could be arrested on Tuesday Opposition party in turmoil as leader could be arrested on Tuesday
4Korea boosts subsidies to rev up falling EV sales Korea boosts subsidies to rev up falling EV sales
5Russia lodges protest to S.Korean envoy over Yoon's UN speech Russia lodges protest to S.Korean envoy over Yoon's UN speech
6Lawmakers want to grill business tycoons over decision to rejoin FKI Lawmakers want to grill business tycoons over decision to rejoin FKI
7Foreign employees rewarded for contribution to Korea's shipbuilding industry Foreign employees rewarded for contribution to Korea's shipbuilding industry
8Gov't reviews changing description of Fukushima wastewater Gov't reviews changing description of Fukushima wastewater
9Saudi Arabia celebrates 93rd National DaySaudi Arabia celebrates 93rd National Day
10'Songpyeon' for low-income families 'Songpyeon' for low-income families
Top 5 Entertainment News
1BLACKPINK's contract renewal still in limbo BLACKPINK's contract renewal still in limbo
2[INTERVIEW] Virtual K-pop group MAVE: is more than just pretty pixels INTERVIEWVirtual K-pop group MAVE: is more than just pretty pixels
3Hebrew University students travel to Korea to explore musical landscape Hebrew University students travel to Korea to explore musical landscape
4[INTERVIEW] 'Cobweb' director questions meaning of cinema INTERVIEW'Cobweb' director questions meaning of cinema
5[INTERVIEW] Seoul's increased art market momentum brings Sotheby's back to Korea INTERVIEWSeoul's increased art market momentum brings Sotheby's back to Korea
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group