Tracing Jeju Island 1979
Farmers work in fields in 1979, now bordered by a road. / Courtesy of Pete and Tony DeMarco
Expat photog retraces 37-year-old memories on Jeju Island
By Jon Dunbar
When Pete DeMarco was six years old, his dad moved his whole family to Jeju Island. His father Tony was sent there in 1979 as an exchange teacher for his alma mater Central Connecticut State University. While there, he took tons of photographs on high-quality slide film, hoping to get published in National Geographic.
Decades later, a grown-up Pete, now residing in Korea himself, returned to the island to check in on distant memories from his childhood.
KAL Hotel, once the tallest building on the island, still exists in recognizable form, even if everything around it has changed. / Courtesy of Pete and Tony DeMarco
“I was only six when I lived on Jeju,” Pete told The Korea Times. “My memories aren’t very strong ones. When I played with the kids at the playground I had no idea what they were saying. I would run upstairs to my dad and repeat the words I heard so he could translate them. In the end, they were almost always bad words. There was another time I burnt my hands playing with fire with the local kids. There was a construction site and we would burn stuff. I made up some crazy story to convince my parents it was an accident. According to them, I said I was throwing hot tar at the other kids.”
The family stayed in the Jaewon apartment complex, at the time the island’s nicest residence with indoor plumbing. They were the only foreigners staying there. Tony, who’d been stationed in Pyeongtaek in 1972 as an army linguist, was the only one who could communicate with locals.
Tourists take pictures with a camera in 1979 (right) and a smartphone in 2016. / Courtesy of Pete and Tony DeMarco
“The Koreans really loved the camera,” recalled Tony. “They looked at me like I was crazy now and then because I was one of the only Westerners around.”
Tony’s old slides show the immaculate new white buildings standing next to shacks. Others show construction proceeding on newer projects. His pictures don’t look too far removed from today: Koreans drinking and having a merry time, classes full of bright-eyed young learners, honeymooning husbands photographing their brides to Jeju’s scenic backdrops.
One photograph captures a horse pulling a cart full of charcoal briquettes through town on a major street. Several others show the already aging haenyeo ― female divers who provided the backbone for the island’s maritime economy.
According to Tony, the haenyeo “were famous even back then, although their numbers were dwindling.”
A parade marks the Tamna Cultural Festival in 1979. In 2016, the festival celebrates its 55th year. / Courtesy of Pete and Tony DeMarco
Many of the same haenyeo he photographed way back then are still hitting the water every morning to catch their family’s livelihood. The younger generations have turned their backs on the dangerous and likely freezing trade.
Pete revisited the spots on the island he remembered and photographed them, trying to capture the exact same scene and show how much they’ve changed over 37 years.
“The hardest part was getting the angles to line up,” said Pete. “Not only did I have to stand in the same spot as my dad did to get the right perspective, I also had to use the same focal length. For instance, if he shot at 35mm then I had to as well or it just wouldn’t look right. It was really a process of trial and error.”
He said the easiest location to track down and recapture was Yongduam Rock, a massive rock formation shaped like the head of a dragon. “It was easy to identify since it has barely changed over the years,” he said.
Tony DeMarco, left, poses for a picture in front of Jeongbang Falls in 1979 and Pete DeMarco returns to the same spot in 2016. / Courtesy of Pete and Tony DeMarco
“The one I had to work for the most was the final photo of my dad and I at Jeongbang waterfall. I saved that one for the last. Unfortunately, it rained pretty hard my final day on the island. I felt like that was the photo that tied the project together. So I was pretty depressed when I left without it. A week later, I flew back just to make that one photo. It was worth it though.”
His overlaid pictures reveal that some things stay the same, while others change dramatically. Tracking down one location from his dad’s slides ― farmers working in the fields, demarcated only by tiny walls of black volcanic rock ― he found a road now ran through it. The shoreline of Jeju City has moved outward due to land reclamation.
The Jeju Island of 2016 is massively changed from 1979. Like the rest of Korea, urbanization picked up pace, with cities full of high-rise buildings. Rather than just a honeymoon destination, Jeju is visited by large numbers of tourists, with Chinese allowed on the island visa-free. A naval base was opened on the island’s southern coast, causing much controversy.
“The purpose of my project was not to dispute South Korea’s military actions or tourism industry,” Pete said. “It was more to say that Jeju should not lose touch with its roots as it progresses. And this is something that’s happening all around the world, not just in Korea.”
Pete’s work can be viewed at thenomadwithin.com, where he’s also published the before/after pictures under the title “Foosteps of My Father.” In 2012, he won a merit prize from National Geographic for his work.
Tony never did get his pictures published in National Geographic.
“I was really disappointed after spending all that time and work,” he said. “But it seems that now because of what we are doing they are getting the audience they deserve.”