The picture of ‘Fresh Warning’ became a issue on the Internet lately. There is a sentence ‘In case of fire, exit the building before taking it’. Like this, we always take a picture of our life. We took our face, the food, and our friends. However, what is the real meaning of the picture? What is the real role of the picture? Probably, we can come up with our memories of the time by only a photo. Here is an exhibition which makes us realize this. Let’s look a few of the exhibits, and learn the lessons.

           “내가 하고싶은게 두 가지 있었는데,  하나는 바로잡아야 할 일을 보여주는 것이고             
                     또 하나는 평가 받아야 할 일을 보여주는 것이다.” Luis Hine (1938~ , )

           “나는 라이프에 실린 사진을 통해 후세에 기억될 것이다.” John Florea ( 1916 ~ 2000 )
 
 

1.      People

Albert Schweitzer & Charlie Chaplin 
    Schweitzer treats the patients in Africa jungle. Charlie Chaplin is in the stage costume of an old-clown. Albert Schweitzer studied the Bible and music, but he was determined to devote himself to curing a patients. So he went to Africa, and he was called a magician by people in there. He brought religious virtue to the wild. Meanwhile, Charlie Chaplin made a unique drama that evoked laughters and tears. When the accelerated industrialization impoverished people’s minds, he cured them in the middle point of laughter and tears. He said, “If I make other people happy, my life expresses respect to me.” Many youths in an age of low growth got stressed because of getting a job or marriage. Everyone complained about their pain, but they ignored others’ pain. The figures of Schweitzer and Charlie Chaplin who devoted their lifetime to curing the sick inspire us. Although their way to heal others’ stress was different from each other, they healed the world by sacrificing themselves.
 

     Winston Churchill & Adolf Hitler

Winston Churchill held up the V sign with a big grin on his face (V means victory). On the other hand, Hitler stating on TV is expressed ridiculously. Hitler and Churchill had a lot in common. They had the great skill of oratory, painted well, had their own bestsellers, and achived political success. They clearly had similar dreams, but the direction which they advanced on was not the same because of different values. We have various dreams during our life. What is more important thing is not our dream but our values. Human is the existence moving along by their values.

2.     Moment

kissing to strangers

There was a man kissing with a woman in the picture. However, they were not a couple. After the end of the war, people came out onto the street and were overwhelmed with joy. A man kissed the woman in the chaos. They were photographed and printed in a magazine. It became a very most famous photo. The woman wore a mask at first, but she revealed her identity in 1979. The number of persons who was insisted to be the man in the picture was eleven, and this was undisclosed. They met for the first time, and kissed on the street. It seems strange. We can’t feel the joy of ending the war by the action. The cruel things like pointing a gun and killing people without any reason ended. It was a great happiness for them to get back to normal. They felt the pleasure of living. As time passes, the suicide rate is increasing every year. The cheapening of human life is also a widespread trend. What is the cause of this phenomenon? We are not keen on our life, and don’t think our life sincerely. The things that we eat well or sleep well become our routine, we don’t think our routine is grateful. Through this photo, we realized the gratitude of our well-being.

People who forgot the history has no future – Mr. Shin Chae Ho

There are the photos of 38^th parallel, refugees, and the U.S. army officer giving orders. Those are photos show the tragedy of the Korean War which was a quarrel between brothers. Substantial time has passed since the Korean War. Many youths are indifferent to unification, and show a tendency of avoiding unification due to economic problems. Have we ever tried to understand the hardship of our ancestors? They had no choice but to part with their family. They cannot endure to see the death in front of them. We should not forget the war holding the pain of Korea. We can feel that the war is not past but present. People who forget the history have no future.

3.     It’s Life

I wrestled with my conscience

A photo shows the scene of a crew of a helicopter landing in the vicinity of a soldier crying for losing his comrade in action. At that time, the American government expected the photos of Larry Burrows to propagate the war. However, the picture of wounded soldiers bolstered the opportunity of antiwar movement. Larry Burrows always wrestled with his conscience, worrying whether he took advantage of other people’s sorrow. We can see the life of people taken in the picture through photos, but there is also a life of photographers. To take a picture, they went to the warfield in spite of the theatre of war. While they came to a dangerous spot, they received a physical wound. However, they probably had more mental anguish because of the cruel scene.

The photographers overcame the difficulties to touch persons to the heart. We should thank to the life of photographers who gave us this depression.

 4.     Tips

 Tips for people who care to visit the exhibition 

 There is audio equipment available which gives more information. For using it, you have to pay 3,000 won. You can also purchase a workbook at the entrance of this exhibition.

      Exhibition : Life photo exhibition

      Period : 2013.9.6 ~ 2013.11.25

      Time Schedule : from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

      Location : Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, 58 Bukchon-ro 11 gil, Seoul 58]

      Admission Fee : 12,000 won for adults

By Heo Moon-hee / CP Cub-Reporter / moony01@cnu.ac.kr