Photography-Act Project: Camera Lucida, Camera Obscura...

  Myoung Ho Lee’s photograph puts the much emphasis on the act and process of engaging with nature. For instance, in his most well known work, <Tree Series>, he stretched and lifted up a white canvas in the back of a gigantic tree rooted in an open field and captured the moment. To take one photograph, he undergoes the processes of choosing the tree after making a lengthy exploration of the place and waiting for a proper season and time for shooting.

  In <Mirage Series> done by similar processes, he set a long canvas over the empty plain in the middle of the bleak desert to cause an optical illusion as if the sea unfolds in front of a viewer. These works with the backdrop of Mother Nature that were created by artist's elaborate plan and tremendous drive defamiliarize the familiar landscapes as well as identify the existence of hidden objects. 

  This Myoung Ho Lee exhibition consists of a bright room and a dark room as the title states. 6 works from <Tree Series> were installed in each different room to concentrate on each work; the white canvas brings out clearly the form and color of the tree. Besides <Tree #3> captured a work view shows that the tree is much bigger than often thought. The unexpected two dimensional scene which was presented in the three dimensional space brings a visual effect that makes the object look as if a painting. This setting, which seems that someone put a tree on a white canvas to observe makes a viewer rediscover the tree and have an unrealistic visual experience.