Lee Sucheol asks whether photography requires a camera. Through development alone, image-making without capture — *Nonsynchrony-Jeju*, *Day Dream*, *Memory Journey*.
For Lee Sucheol, photography is not a medium — it's a question.
"If photography is simply a process of making an image, the traditional premise that one must photograph something with a camera can be overturned."
He actually experiments with making results through the development process alone, without camera or film. Whether the final image is called photography, imagegraph, or digigraph isn't important to him. His posture: "the camera is merely one mechanism for capturing phenomena." A try to extend the photographer's seat into the seat of an image-maker.
Osaka, Sangmyung, and the Lectern
He graduated in photography from Osaka University of Arts, then received his MA in Pure / Image Science at Sangmyung University Graduate School of Art and Design.
The pure photography he studied signifies a posture concentrating on art's inner value rather than directly carrying social message or the spirit of the age. On that ground, he repeatedly experiments with the ontological boundary of photography.
His teaching record is long. Daegu University of Arts photography (2007–2012), Kookmin University School of Arts (2008–2009), Sangmyung University photo-video (2013–present), Chungnam National University design-creation (2010–present). A generation of photography students passed through his classroom.
Nonsynchrony-Jeju, Memory Journey
Recurring titles in his solo list.
- Memory Journey — Yeomi Gallery, Seosan (2022); The Beam Gallery, Daejeon (2023); Solaris Gallery, Osaka (~2023)
- Day Dream / Daydream — Bresson Gallery (2016); Gallery Hyeyum, Gwangju (2020)
- Nonsynchrony-Jeju — Daegu Art Shop Toma; Space22 + Bresson Gallery, Seoul; Yeomi Gallery, Seosan (2018)
- Hyewon Photo Album — Iz Gallery (recent); Space Sundeo invitational (2025)
Going back to 2011 Grimson Gallery Hwamong Joonggyeong, 2008 Gallery ON Epiphany of Illusion, 2008 Bresson Gallery Architectural Photography — titles themselves sit within one lineage of illusion, memory, nonsynchrony.
International Stages, Team Projects
In 2014 he participated in Contemporary Art Ruhr Media Art Fair at Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage Site, Essen, Germany. In 2001, at SAKA-NO MACHI ART in yatsuo 2001 in Toyama, Japan. In 2009 his name appeared in the Contemporary Korea Photographs Exhibition at Osaka University of Arts Art Information Center.
Active in team projects. Incheon Women series, 2016·2017 with Incheon Cultural Foundation funding; Nonsynchrony-Jeju in 2018 with Jeju Cultural Foundation funding (Biotope Gallery, Jeju). A posture running personal work alongside place-based collaborations.
Porco, and Over the Dream
Two SAF 2026 works, both from 2011.
- Porco, Where Are You?-1 — pigment print on paper, 70×46.6 cm
- Over the Dream-2 — 50×50 cm
Porco is Italian for pig, but also recalls Porco Rosso, the hero of the animation Porco Rosso. A title that attaches the question Where are you? A posture making the position of a question itself into an image, rather than demanding an answer.
Over the Dream-2 carries a similar tone. The phrase over the dream in the title gently bends the traditional premise that photography records reality.
On the Boundary of Photography
84.9% of Korean artists are excluded from institutional finance. Sales of works by SAF-exhibiting artists cycle into a mutual-aid fund, returning as low-interest loans to fellow artists.
If what Lee Sucheol has explored all his life is the boundary of photography, SAF deals with the boundary of art and solidarity. Just as image can be made without a camera, solidarity can start from one work without a grand institution. A work that asks boundary and a structure that extends boundary support each other.
A Question Become Image
If his practice is question rather than answer, the question is: What is photography? What is image? And what can an artist do?
Two SAF 2026 works are the 2026 edition of that question. The moment they cross to a viewer's wall, the question becomes another person's question.
Works by Lee Sucheol
Related reading
If this piece helped, you may also enjoy these related articles:
- Preparing a Young Artist First Solo Show: A Six-Month Roadmap — A first solo show is a singular threshold in an artist's life. This guide synthesizes emerging artists' experiences into a six-month preparation roadmap.
- Four First-Time Collectors Share Their Stories — The moment of buying a first artwork is different for everyone. A first paycheck, a mother's birthday, a new home after divorce — four collectors who bought their first works through SAF tell their stories.
- Lee Yun-yop — A "Dispatched Artist," Carving the Texture of Labor in Multi-Color Woodblock — Lee Yun-yop, master of Korean multi-color woodblock. "Dispatched artist" activist, industrial rubber matting medium, farmer/worker motifs, MMCA collection — with 5 curated picks.
View all works by Lee Sucheol →
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Seed Art Festival
Published April 20, 2026
