hasisi park, korea and japan

i have recently been looking more at the photography of hasisi park (thankyou again to nazara for introducing me to her via +). i find it quite thought provoking. her photography is at times confronting, the below is a description from urban outfitters:

'park is often the subject of her own work, and her portraits evoke the highs, lows and loneliness of someone who lives in her own world. her work is beautiful and occasionally unsettling.'

the above photo is from her project series called the family:

'my cousins are japanese, but we are korean. during colonial times and right before the korean war my grand-uncle went to japan with my grandfather, but my grandfather came back and he didn't. 2 sons and a daughter and wealth, he became very rich in japan. i'd been to japan quite a few times before this trip but this time was very special becasue i had a mission to see whole family, get along with them and keep the connection between japan and korea as well as the family and family.'

looking at hasisi park's story through photographs i am reminded that when living in japan i began to see the complex connected history of japan and korea reverberate in both contemporary societies. an echo through generations. it is one area (along with burakumin and the relationship between china and japan) where i began to question my understanding of japan. i tried to view contemporary japanese society not only from my western gaijin point of view, but to also attempt to see it through the eyes of people whose country or background sometimes has a marked impact on the way they live with, and in, japan.

these photos are maybe a more personal document and discovery of what is family and place, but i guess that is one nice thing about art, photography, it leads you to places...the above and below photos are from the family project. others are from hasisi park's general portfolio.