Kim Ji-soo joined The Korea Times in 2006, and worked on such desks as culture and politics and is currently a member of the Editorial Board. Previous workplaces include The Korea Herald and the Korea JoongAng Daily.
Nam Hyun Bum's view behind the lens
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Nam Hyun-bum, kneeling with his arms crossed, watches as other street fashion photographers shoot a model in Milan in this 2010 file photo.
By Kim Ji-soo
By Kim Ji-soo, Kim Jae-heun
Nam Hyun-bum, street fashion photographer Courtesy of Nam Hyun-bum
Nam Hyun-bum looks every bit the pioneer Korean street fashion photographer, wearing a beanie, in-style camouflage pants and a shirt, with a Leica M3-817351 camera hanging casually on his shoulder. Up close, however, he looks a little more serious, with the intense eyes and the hunch of a computer geek, which he once was.
At 29, he already has four years of street fashion photography work, including for high-profile clients such as Vogue in the United States, Elle in France, Grazia in Italy and Vogue in Japan.
He is usually busy all year round. This year, he started with fashion weeks in Milan in January, followed by fashion weeks in Florence, London, Paris and New York through March. Nam follows the same trajectory for the men’s fashion weeks in the fall.
This month, however, is somewhat leisurely for Nam, giving him time to shoot away with his Leica around Seoul. “Sometimes, I take photos with one hand while driving, like this,” Nam confessed.
Anna Wintour, editor of American Vogue, in Paris exiting from a show in this 2014 file photo, which will appear in his second book.
Toward the end of the year, he will be off to Spain to shoot ad photos. Nam wasn’t always a globetrotter. A native of Busan, he was a computer software engineer, majoring in the field in college at Sejong University in Seoul. After graduating, however, he realized that he couldn’t imagine his entire life in front of the computer.
His passion for finding what’s cool and natural, his love of contrasts and his guts to show his true colors, prompted him to pursue a different path — street fashion photography. Today, he lives the life that hundreds of aspiring photographers in the nation want. For instance, he’s good friends with Tommy Ton, who works for Style.com and whom he describes as having an “unmatchable” fashion acumen.
“Cool” seems to be the word around which his life and work revolve. Thus, it was no surprise that he used it often during the interview with The Korea Times at café in Itaewon, Seoul, Sunday. For instance, he says he enjoys surfing because it’s cool.
In addition, he was enamored by the works and seemingly charmed lives of the first-generation street fashion photographers like Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist. So he worked at multiple part-time jobs so that he could fly to Milan Fashion Week in 2010. He also said he chose street photography because “no one in my family knew or was in fashion.” He thought he had a unique perspective to convey street fashion in an interesting way.
A man stares as a half-clad model in London walks to work. This photo will also be included in Nam’s second book.
“Street photography is capturing an object under sunlight and capturing the moment with the lens without shaking,” Nam said. “I’ve had plenty of training in capturing the moment from the army. Nam worked as a photographer at the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the Demilitarized Zone. “You know, the JSA is also a ‘street,’” he said.
“In a way, street photography is an underground scene. It’s not about the runway and the backstage, nor is it about what’s high end or not easily accessible to the public,” Nam said. His photo blog has given him unprecedented success. “The blog allows me to be a consumer, a buyer and a member of the media as well,” Nam aid. While Psy became a global music star through YouTube, Nam became known through his blog. His easygoing approach to showcasing his work is the same as his approach to styling his hair — keep it simple. “A blog was easier to make than a website, and it was my online exhibition center,” he said.
In addition to the blog, Nam has had a cable television channel program detailing his work and has authored one book on photography, with another one coming out soon.
Over the years, Nam’s photography style has changed from portraiture to capturing his taste through small details. “I did portraiture for the first year, and then I got to know everyone,” Nam said. As he became more familiar with his subjects, he began to notice and capture the uniqueness of his subjects’ surroundings that he missed before, such as item match-up, color harmonies or funny or ironic situations.
As the interview proceeded to discuss the secret behind his photography, Nam said, “My photos are more natural … I seize upon the ambience.”
And how does he do that?
“Well … I am not particularly interested in people, but when I look through the lens, I focus and see new qualities in the subject,” Nam said. “It’s a contrast,” he added. The word “well” was another word that he often used word during the interview.
“I think one should dig deeper and deeper into one’s true identity, to convey the reality as one sees it,” Nam said, providing more insight into how he works and then citing photographer Juergen Teller as an example. “Let’s say if you’re a pervert or mad about something, you should delve deeper to get to the bottom of it so that your true colors, only your own singular colors, come through,” he said.
“I will continue to take photos in my ‘color,’ in my style and yet, from a neutral perspective,” he said. “You need to take a step back and see the larger picture. Only then can you grasp the picture that others miss, such as a scene where a celebrity secretly leaves a fashion show amid the flock of photographers or one where an old man reads a book peacefully as photographers huddle around him to take photos of other people,” he said.
Whatever Nam could not explain in words, he conveyed through his photographs. He said he has never called top fashion magazines; rather, they called him after seeing his blog. Nam said he does not think of himself necessarily as a top photographer. “I learned that as I worked with the top people that one doesn’t have to be a specialist in all fields. For example, I know how to deal with sunlight but not lighting. I once worked at a very high-profile project, and for these shoots, they bring in the top lighting and retouching experts. All I have to do is take the photos,” Nam said.
Nam said he doesn’t regret entering photography. “I think when you enjoy something, you will develop the talent for it,” he said.
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