Photographs Capture Happy Lives of Foreign Wives in Korea
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
When it comes to interracial marriage in Korea, much of the media attention has been focused on the problems and conflicts between foreign wives and their Korean husbands.
But photographer Huh Hyun-joo has taken a look at a more positive, happier side of interracial marriages for her exhibition ``Yes, we are … 우리도 행복한 한국인입니다" at Gallery Now, Gwanhoon-dong, Jongno.
``It is so true that anywhere in the world you look at, the life of immigrant wives is not so easy. Are they all so hapless, as we learn from the media? Why are only conflict and pains exposed so plainly? I dearly wish their lives to be easy and happy here in Korea. This is why this work was about the happy life of those immigrant women because they are now Koreans themselves," she said in the exhibition's introduction.
Her photographs capture the daily lives of immigrant women trying to raise their families while adapting to Korean culture. There are poignant images of mothers and their children, as well as the women happily interacting with the community.
Huh hopes the exhibition will provide an opportunity for Korean society to embrace multiculturalism and live in harmony.
``Immigrant wives have now become a group we can come across in every corner of the country. Reflecting on our history, we have long digressed from remaining a radically homogenous nation, but we often find ourselves saying that we are no longer homogenous thanks to the influx of immigrant women," Huh said.
Huh is a documentary photographer and an associate professor in the department of video and photography at Joongbu University, Geumsan, South Chungcheong Province. She is also currently vice president of the Korea Association for Photography Education.
Her past solo exhibitions include ``Deprived Years of Korean Women for Sexual Slavery Under Japanese Rule" in 2002, Seoul; and ``Love & Care" in 1993, Syracuse, New York.
The exhibition runs through Tuesday at Gallery Now, located on the third floor of the Seongji Building, Gwanhoon-dong, Jongno. Call (02) 725-2930.