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Ethnographer Michael Hurt explores intersection of photography, feminism, digital culture in Seoul

What’s the connection between ethnographic photography and feminist discourse in Korea? Perhaps the best scholar to address that question is Michael W. Hurt, PhD, an ethnographic photographer and professor whose artistic journey intertwines academia, cultural exploration and what he calls "screen feminism." With decades of experience capturing the essence of youth culture, street fashion and digital subcultures through the lens of ethnographic photography, he gave an interesting lecture to Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) Korea on the topic, titled “Jessi, Screen Feminism, and the Artistic Practice of Korean Instagram Models,” on April 9 at FastFive Tower near Seoul City Hall. His passion for documentary photography in spending 23 years doing visual fieldwork merged with his academic interests, resulting in research on digital subcultures and the intersection of fashion and identity in Seoul, evolved into an ethnography study. “I started doing pure street fashion, especially in Korea, in 2002. A lot of people call my street photography a waste of time. Technically that was true, beca

May 1, 2024By Bereket Alemayehu
Ethnographer Michael Hurt explores intersection of photography, feminism, digital culture in Seoul

Beer brewers of Korea throw down for Daegu Stout Smackdown

As my train pulls into Dongdaegu Station, I ask myself, “Why don’t more people leave Seoul?” Daegu is a major metropolis with a lot to offer. For me specifically, it’s Korea’s premiere home-brewing competition — the Daegu Stout Smackdown. Started by homebrewer-turned-pro Jared Hatch, this annual competition gives homebrewers in South Korea a chance to flex their skills on all beers dark: stouts, porters, Russian imperial stouts, vanilla stouts — the list is numerous. This competition began in 2015, shortly after Hatch won Best in Show at Seoul’s first homebrew competition. “I wanted something local [to Daegu] and wanted a way to hone my beer judging skills. My friends and I would practice every week to learn the Beer Judge Certification Program guidelines,” said the beer enthusiast. And from those humble, guerrilla-style beginnings, where does he see this competition as being currently? “Oh, it’s much bigger and there are many more Koreans participating,” Hatch claims. “We also have a lot more professional brewers involved and helping out with organizing.” A

Apr 28, 2024By Kevin Grabb
Beer brewers of Korea throw down for Daegu Stout Smackdown

RAS KOREA Maegokri's mid-20th-century rural medical mission

When Western missionaries came to Korea in 1885, their mission work focused on education and medical care. The huge churches they are known for today came along later. Such is the case, albeit almost a century later, with a small Midwest U.S.-based denomination called “Community of Christ.” Community of Christ members had been among the thousands of U.S. military personnel in Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War and afterward. Naturally, their Korean friends became aware of their denomination and its focus on the social gospel as described in the New Testament.

Apr 21, 2024By Steven L. Shields
[RAS KOREA] Maegokri's mid-20th-century rural medical mission
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