Faculty of Art

Photography

Myeongjoo Park

Sewolho: Rewind 2014

This photographic series rejects the pressure of forgetting the date and disaster.

“In grade 12, I was studying in the library for the college scholastic ability test. Then, I watched the news that a passenger ship carrying high school students on a school trip had a marine accident, and I believed that nothing would happen. I thought it was someone else’s business and did not care, also I heard everyone was rescued. A few hours later, each press released a breaking news report urgently. Only about a hundred people have been saved, they said. The ship had around 500 people on board. The students, who were the main passengers, were a year younger than me.A total of 304 people were killed or missing. It was on April 16, 2014.I often can not even remember the birthdays of my friends whom I have known for over a decade, but the date of April 16, 2014, is unforgettable, as if it engraves on my soul. Creating art about the MV Sewol disaster has been one of my long-cherished aspirations. This year marks the ninth anniversary of the disaster, but I still need to remember MV Sewol.Currently, Korean society forces the public to forget about MV Sewol. Many people hesitate to talk about MV Sewol, get tired of it, and try to distort the truth. This photographic series is a rejection of the pressure. I represent the MV Sewol disaster using a yellow paper boat, one of the famous symbols of the disaster. In the title “Rewind” also means “remember,” but it also contains thinking that I want to turn back that time to save victims.”