Exhibit Takes Closer Look at Bullfighting
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
Traditional bullfighting has been going on for more than a thousand years in Korea and still attracts crowds today. Bullfighting evokes images of angry bulls fighting against each other and drawing blood.
For people who have not yet seen bullfighting in real life, the savage beauty of Korean bullfighting is on display at the photography exhibition ``Fighting Bull, Hanmyung'' at Gana Forum Space, Pyeongchang-dong through Tuesday.
Chairman of Korean Savings Bank Group and photographer Yun Hyun-soo, captured the excitement and thrill of bullfighting in stark black and white photographs.
In his exhibition essay, Yun shares his thoughts about the art of bullfighting. ``Is it freedom or is it an entry into pain…. before the bulls learn to hate one other, they learn to stare down each other and to charge with their horns. Horns represent fear. The stronger the fear, the sharper the horns charge and fears collide,'' he said.
In the photographs, the huge 600-kilogram bulls with their strong horns, look larger than life and fiercer than ever. The bulls shove against each other, grunting and huffing until one gives up.
The exhibition starts with photographs of the bulls while they are being groomed and prepared for the fight. Here, the bulls are shown calmly eating grass and being trained by their owners.
Expectedly, the most exciting photographs at the exhibit are of the scenes inside the bullring. Noses flaring, the bulls lock horns and ram into each other, their hooves digging in the sand.
Some of Yun's best work is when he takes extreme close-up shots of the bulls, and their eyes reveal their emotions.
Yun takes a photograph of two bulls, their heads slammed against each other, horns locked, staring into each other's eyes, making the viewer wonder which bull won.
``Once the fight begins, there is no way to end it unless one of the bulls steps back. The bulls develop the technique of fighting only through real combat and pain,'' Yun said.
There are other close-up shots of the bull's head that show almost every strand of its hair, even the tiny grains of sand stuck to it. One can almost feel the texture of the bull's skin and hair through the photographs.
Yun's collection of photographs is compiled in the book ``Fighting Bull, Hanmyung." It is available at the exhibition for 35,000 won. Gana Forum Space is located next to Gana Art Center. For information how to get there, visit www.ganaart.com.