BOOK
DMZ
In 2009 the South Korean Ministry of National Defense invited Park to document the DMZ, an area normally inaccessible to civilians and of which no comprehensive photographic record existed. Park did so vigorously until 2012, although the project proved a complex administrative undertaking involving detailed negotiations and planning. An unlikely tension energizes Park’s series: the contrast between military presence (seen through barbed wire, outposts, and armed troops which have led to sporadic violence), and the natural beauty of the DMZ. The isolation of this diverse landscape has allowed it to largely revert to its original state; today it is recognized as one of the world’s best-preserved temperate habitats and home to several endangered species of flora and fauna.
288 pages, 195 images
softcover 21 x 28.5 cm / English
Imjin River
Himalaya Odyssey
In 1987, Park Jongwoo traveled the Hindu Kush Ranges and Hunza area that stretches along the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It was the first witnessed Rakaposhi Peak that he fell in love with the Himalayas. With each step he took in getting to know the people living along with the greatest mountain range on earth, he increasingly felt winds of change breezing through their lives as new roads were paved into the mountains through which the cultures of the outside world could flood.
For several centuries, the life pattern of the Himalayans was been keeping the same, however, that has completely changed recently. The Himalayan traditional way of life that freely went in and out of the steep gorges of the grand snow mountains is also slowly fading away in history. What kind of changes will these people face in the future? They are people of deep faith with devout hearts embraced by Mother Nature. This book brings together the memories of those the photographer met and bade farewell while walking along the various roads.
292 pages, 264 images
hardcover/ 26 x 31 cm/ Korean & English