INTERVIEW Through strangers and small encounters, photographer finds stories beyond tourist landmarks in Seoul
A portrait of street photographer Bleg Bayraktar, better known as ItsBleg / Courtesy of Dorothea Rosskopf
ItsBleg takes moments with ordinary Seoul citizens, shows engagement with strangers
On a warm afternoon in Seoul, a tall young man with black glasses stops on a street corner. He hesitates for a moment, then bows and introduces himself in Korean: “Hello. I am a photographer.” The stranger looks startled, but moments later, stands in front of the lens — a new face in a growing gallery of ordinary Seoul citizens.
When Belgian photographer Bleg Bayraktar, better known as ItsBleg, came to Korea in this spring, he initially planned to stay for 10 days. It was his second visit; his first trip three years earlier had left him wanting to return to experience the country again.
“One of the best decisions of my life,” he said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. After staying three months in Korea and taking a short trip to Japan, the 24-year-old is back in Seoul, with plans to return and possibly stay forever.
From finance to photography
ItsBleg’s path to portraiture was anything but linear. He holds a master’s degree in business economics and began his career in finance in late 2023. Within months, however, the pull of photography outweighed the security of a 9-to-5 job. He remembers calling his manager to quit — hesitating at first, then phoning back minutes later to resign on the spot.
He first ventured into street photography about three years ago, in Japan. During a student exchange in Tokyo, he tried approaching a stranger for the first time. “I was so stressed. I told myself I’d never do it again,” he recalls with a smile.
Yet the thrill of the challenge never left him. Now, from Seoul’s flea markets to its riverside parks, he introduces himself daily, asking strangers for a few minutes of their time.
A photo of Ahn Seung-wan, taken by street photographer ItsBleg / Courtesy of ItsBleg
Politeness as principle
While street photography often thrives on speed and intrusion, ItsBleg insists on something else: politeness and a finely tuned sensitivity toward his subjects and their cultural background. The principle applies not only in Korea, but all over the world — he has traveled across Europe, Asia and Africa, approaching people with respect.
“I’m already asking a huge demand,” he says. “If people want it, that’s cool. If they don’t, that’s okay too.”
Ahn Seung-wan and ItsBleg. A language mix-up led Ahn to think ItsBleg wanted a photo with him, suddenly putting the photographer in front of the camera instead of behind it. Courtesy of ItsBleg
Street photography is challenging in numerous ways. Shy and introverted at heart (he is an INFP on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), ItsBleg admits that this way of working can feel radical, particularly because it requires the photographer to summon the courage to interact with total strangers.
Choosing the subjects of his portraits feels deeply intuitive for the photographer. He notices aspects such as style or personality, but mostly relies on “a gut feeling,” he explains. In Korea, where strangers rarely approach one another without purpose, unsolicited conversation can sometimes raise fears of unwanted encounters with religious groups or salespeople. Some people walk past, pretending not to hear. Some say no. Many, however, say yes.
What his encounters can teach us about Korea
When asked about his most meaningful portrait in Korea, ItsBleg doesn’t hesitate: It was the first one he took, on his very first day in Seoul. He approached a young woman named Ji-won, who initially looked puzzled, thinking he wanted directions. Instead, he asked for a photograph.
ItsBleg’s first portrait in Korea was of Ji-won, a stranger who soon became a close friend. Courtesy of ItsBleg
What could have been a brief encounter turned into something lasting. Ji-won became one of his closest friends in Korea. Through her, he met her friends, many of whom are now central to his own circle.
It was those connections that reshaped his time in Korea, turning a short 10-day stay into three months, he explained. His newfound Korean friends welcomed him, pulling him into the fabric of their lives — inviting him to birthdays and even weddings. “I arrived here without knowing anyone,” he said. “Now, they make me feel like I am at home in a foreign country.”
The portraits he takes are not glamorous. “People think Korea is K-pop idols and K-dramas,” he said. “I want to show another Korea, everyday people in their own lives.”
That choice has struck a chord. In one video, a man named Min-joon initially declined a portrait, insisting he wasn’t attractive enough. “That broke my heart,” ItsBleg said. Comments poured in from viewers encouraging him, telling him he looked handsome. “Sometimes beauty standards are so high here that people underestimate themselves. But beauty is variety. People don’t see how beautiful they are to others.”
Perhaps to Koreans, his portraits can feel like reminders of overshadowed truths. To international audiences, they might peel away clichés of neon skylines and polished idols.
A portrait of Min-joon, who initially thought he looked too ordinary to be photographed. Later he reached out, saying he found courage in the comments under ItsBleg’s video. Courtesy of ItsBleg
Travel as curiosity, not tourism
ItsBleg’s method offers lessons for anyone traveling in Korea. While some people might treat travel as consumption, with sights checked off, photos taken and specific meals ordered, his approach suggests something else: slowing down, asking questions and engaging strangers with humility.
Even rejections, he says, are part of the experience. “The worst thing is they just say no, and then you forget about it five minutes later. That’s all.” In his approach, politeness is not just about manners — it’s a way to create connection.
What began as a personal challenge to take 500 portraits has turned into something larger. His online following has climbed past a million, turning him into an unlikely chronicler of everyday life in Korea. But the heart of the work remains unchanged. “I just want to take good photos and tell good stories,” he said.
The stories he collects are modest but profound: a man unsure of his own looks, a stranger who became a close friend, an old man in a park. As ItsBleg himself put it: “Traveling is not just going to temples or touristic places. It’s being curious and talking to people. That’s when you start to really appreciate a country.”
Dorothea Rosskopf is a journalist based in Germany, reporting on people, culture and current affairs in Germany and Korea.