Photographer Han Young-soo’s works exude vintage cool in contrast to the modern interior of L7 GANGNAM. With a modern, yet sophisticated touch, his photos vividly capture the expressions of people on the devastated streets of Seoul in the 1950s and 1960s following the Korean War. Black-and-white photographs of women browsing new outfits in display windows, beachgoers with parasols walking along sandy beaches on a hot summer day or people skating on the Han River, frozen solid in the dead of winter, offer a fascinating glimpse into the authentic daily life of Seoul residents of the time, who were freer and cooler than ever imagined.

Looking at his works, the viewer is reminded that such landscapes could be somewhere in the world at this very moment thanks to his natural shot and composition, despite more than half a century having already passed. Taken with an extraordinary eye for subjects, impeccable composition, diverse angles, and exquisite timing, Han’s photos are considered works of outstanding aesthetic and documentary value.

After fighting in the Korean War as a student soldier, leading Korean photographer Han Young-soo was discharged and decided to record the rapidly-changing social environment of those who had survived the war. He bought a camera from the US Army post exchange and studied photography techniques by reading photography magazines, capturing the Seoul cityscape through his relaxed and warm perspective.

His artistic endeavors took off thanks to Sinseonhoe, the first realist photography research group in Korea. In 1966, he established the Han Young-soo Photography Research Center, an advertising photography studio. He had a distinguished career as a pioneer of advertising photography in Korea, such that it was almost a given that he had a hand in any piece of advertising up until the mid-1990s.

In 2017, he held a solo exhibition at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York, making him the first Korean photographer to do so, and his works were added to the permanent collection. He is considered a key figure in the Korean photography world. His works are on display at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Hungarian Museum of Photography.