KOREA FOCUS

What do U.S. President Barack Obama, British pop star Elton John and Prince Philippe of Belgium have in common? They all own works by the Korean photographer Bae Bien-U (Byeong-u). Obama was presented with an album of Bae`s works titled Cheongsane Sareorirata (To Live in Blue Mountains) by President Lee Myung-bak when they held a summit meeting in June. Elton John, upon seeing one of Bae`s famous pine tree photos in 2005, is said to have exclaimed, “That`s the artwork I`ve been looking for,” and then purchased the photo for 15,000 pounds (31.36 million won by the current exchange rate). At the time it was the highest price ever fetched by a Korean photograph. As for Prince Philippe, he told Bae how moved he was by his pine tree photos and invited him to his palace in Brussels.

 

Besides these three, countless others have become enamored with Bae`s photography. His work hangs in the studio of famed French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, at the headquarters of the Spanish fashion house Mango and the French cosmetics company Sisley. And it`s not hard to see foreign visitors standing dazed before Bae`s giant pine tree photo hanging in the lobby of the Novotel Ambassador Hotel in Haeundae, Busan.  

      

 

I visited Bae`s studio in Heyri, Paju on July 8. He was getting ready to leave for Spain for an exhibition titled “The Soul Gardens — Alhambra and Changdeokgung,” opening July 16 at the museum of Alhambra Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Photographs of the garden that Bad had taken over the past two years over many, many trips to the palace will finally be shown to visitors from around the world this summer. Set to hang beside the photos of Alhambra are Bae`s photos of the back garden of Changdeok Palace, also known as the Secret Garden. I could hardly contain my curiosity.

 

Before I could ask any questions, Bae suggested eating first and we headed to a kitchen island in a corner of his studio. He proved to be no slouch with a knife and chopping board. Since his wife passed away in 1990, he has been cooking for himself and his assistants everyday whenever he is in Korea. He says he likes cooking so much that he has thought about being a chef, and as rumored, his skills are first rate. He prepared a meal of stir fried mushrooms and vegetables, bean paste stew (doenjang jjigae), a Mediterranean-style tomato salad, grilled fish, and a German Riesling, chilled.  

 

“The Granada Department for Cultural Heritage Management asked me to take photos of Alhambra Palace and it wasn`t until I got there that I understood why these people had asked me to do the job,” Bae said. “Visitors are busy looking at the Islamic architecture and the geometrical planning of the interior garden. I didn`t realize it when I first visited the palace a long time ago, but I found out this time that there`s a beautiful natural garden behind the palace. The tallest tree in the garden is a pine tree, and pine trees form the core of the forests there. The representative from the Cultural Heritage Department asked me to take the Alhambra photos after seeing my pine tree exhibition in Madrid. I think he was curious to see how the palace and the gardens would look from the perspective of an Asian photographer.”   

 

Copies of the photos for the exhibition were scattered across Bae`s workbench. Pine trees shrouded in mist, a mystical, seemingly endless pine tree path, the sunlight coming through brilliantly patterned windows — they`re not the kind of photos of Alhambra that we`re familiar with. Visiting the palace in all four seasons over the past two years, Bae took thousands of photos, which have been whittled down to 100, and of these only 44 will be featured in the exhibition. The rest will be included in a photo book soon to be published. After the exhibition at the Alhambra, Bae is set to hold a large solo exhibition in Seoul that will take over the National Museum of Art at Deoksu Palace from September 30 to October 29. The Alhambra and Changdeokgung photos can be seen then.