b.1979 in Seoul
www.cheonejoon.com
Che Onejoon lives and works in Seoul. Onejoon uses a large format camera to photograph places in Seoul that look deserted and/or are hidden from sight, such as the interiors of police stations, brothels, and underground bunkers. Upon close scrutiny, these depopulated images visually unfold aspects of social and political change in the context of the modern and contemporary history of South Korea. Having worked as a staff photographer at an auxiliary police force in lieu of military service, Onejoon began to discover what lay below the apparent surface of the city. In 2004 he went on to exhibit a photograph of a concealed space at a police station where he had actually worked in Document at the Seoul Museum of Art. In his series on brothels in Seoul titled the Miari Texas Project, Onejoon broke away from his previous documentary framework by severely manipulating the colour of his photographs. In his one-person exhibition undercooled at the Alternative Space Pool in Seoul, he worked on exposing military installations such as bunkers, hideaways, and defensive shields that have fallen out of use, but nevertheless continue to exist.
Che Onejoon has exhibited widely in Korea, and his international presentations include those at the Scope Art Fair, New York, 2007 and at Arco 07, Madrid, 2007.