FEM: Women, Lives, and Korean Photobooks

Rather than presenting a single narrative of womanhood, Fem brings together Korean photobooks that explore women’s lives through diverse experiences, relationships, memories, labour, care, migration, the body, and identity. Featuring photographers from their twenties to their eighties, the selection spans multiple generations and perspectives, offering an intergenerational view of Korean photobook culture.

The books trace women’s experiences across different moments in modern and contemporary Korea—from war, migration, and industrialisation to family life, work, intimacy, and everyday existence. Some revisit overlooked histories through archives and oral testimony, while others turn to personal memory, daily encounters, or experimental photographic practices. Bringing together works by both women and men, the selection suggests that women’s experiences are not defined by a single perspective, but are continually shaped through relationships, history, and society.

At the heart of this showcase is the photobook itself. More than a container for photographs, the photobook is a narrative medium in which images, texts, sequencing, design, and materiality work together to create meaning. By presenting published photobooks alongside artist’s books, handmade editions, and dummy books, Fem highlights the diversity of contemporary Korean photobook culture while demonstrating how the photobook continues to expand the possibilities of photographic practice and storytelling.

FEM: Women, Lives, and Korean Photobooks

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