From K-pop idol to CEO, exhibition puts unlikely quartet behind camera

Installation view of Hyundai Card CEO Ted Chung's photographic works, displayed as part of the group exhibition, "Our [Moving] Images," at Storage by Hyundai Card in Seoul / Courtesy of Hyundai Card

By Park Han-sol

• Published May 12, 2026 4:41 PM KST
• Updated May 12, 2026 5:34 PM KST

Hyundai Card CEO, creatives trade polished personas for personal snapshots in Seoul show

At Storage by Hyundai Card in Seoul, four individuals from markedly different worlds gather under one roof, bound by a single shared passion: a deeply personal devotion to photography.

The group exhibition, titled “Our [Moving] Images,” brings together the visual practices of Hyundai Card CEO Ted Chung, fashion photographer Ahn Joo-young, singer-actor Kim Do-yeon and commercial director Ray Yi — figures whose professional paths may differ, but whose images reveal a common instinct to observe and preserve the world through the lens.

Most of the works on view were not created for commercial ends. Instead, they read more like spontaneous traces of daily life — fragments of passing moments that emerged quietly between the demands of career and routine.

Rather than approaching the show in search of neatly defined messages, visitors may find greater reward in simply moving with its flow, allowing the textures and sensibilities of each artist’s perspective to wash over them.

To highlight the distinct visual identities of its four participants, the exhibition unfolds across Storage’s two exposed-brick floors through a series of color-themed spaces, each devoted to a single artist. Photographs differ in form, from framed prints to glowing light boxes and images suspended on fluttering fabric.

For Chung, photography has long been guided by a personal philosophy of compositional precision, where he “carefully arranges subjects on a proper plate.” His nearly 20 photographs, spanning portraits and landscapes, often exude that exacting sensibility.

Yet the show also reveals moments where Chung deliberately pushes against those instincts. At times, he said, his disciplined approach began to feel almost overly fixated on the act of taking photographs itself rather than on the medium’s spontaneity.

That shift first surfaced in an image casually captured on a train table while en route to an exhibition of German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, an artist known for his loose, unpretentious visual language. Inspired by Tillmans’ still lifes, Chung approached the shot with unusual lightness.

For Kim, whose public life began in 2016 with her debut as part of the K-pop project group I.O.I at a young age, photography became tied to a period of personal reckoning.

Following the group’s disbandment, Kim found herself confronting questions of identity, relationships and selfhood. As she gradually turned toward acting, photography became a means of navigating that transitional chapter.

Yi’s works similarly offer glimpses beyond his professional role as a commercial director, presenting images captured across Berlin, Hong Kong and New York that uncover subtle wit and understated humor.

Meanwhile, fashion photographer Ahn’s section is striking for the inclusion of his rare personal work: a black-and-white close-up portrait of actor Lee Sung-kyung, shot in 2013 before she had fully risen to her current prominence.

In an industry where celebrity portraits are often polished to near-perfection, Ahn’s image stands apart for its insistence on preserving natural texture. Fine facial hair and unfiltered details remain intact. The result is not an idealized star image, but an intimate record of one person.