I was raised in Seoul, Korea, and moved to New York City in 1999 to attend college. I was pre-med at the time, and I thought I would become a surgeon because I was interested in anatomy and dissecting animals really piqued my curiosity. At the same time, I fell in love with New York City. I started to realize that I could look at the whole city as a living organism. I wanted to dissect it and look into its unseen layers. And the way to it, for me, was through artistic means. So, eventually I decided to pursue an MFA instead of an M.D. and in grad school I became interested in creatures that dwell in the hidden corners of the city.
Odrasla sam u Seulu u Južnoj Koreji, a u Njujork sam se doselila 1999. na studije. Tada sam odabrala usmerenje koje je priprema za studije medicine i mislila sam da ću postati hirurg zato što me je interesovala anatomija a seciranje životinja mi je zaista zagolicalo maštu. Istovremeno, Njujork me je potpuno osvojio. Shvatila sam da ceo grad mogu da posmatram kao da je živi organizam. I poželela sam da ga seciram i da se zagledam u njegove još neviđene slojeve. A način da to uradim je bio kroz umetničko izražavanje. Pa sam se tako posle nekog vremena umesto za medicinu odlučila za usavršavanje na akademiji umetnosti. a na postdiplomskim studijama sam se zainteresovala za stvorenja koja obitavaju u skrivenim budžacima grada.
In New York City, rats are part of commuters' daily lives. Most people ignore them or are frightened of them. But I took a liking to them because they dwell on the fringes of society. And even though they're used in labs to promote human lives, they're also considered pests. I also started looking around in the city and trying to photograph them. One day, in the subway, I was snapping pictures of the tracks hoping to catch a rat or two, and a man came up to me and said, "You can't take photographs here. The MTA will confiscate your camera." I was quite shocked by that, and thought to myself, "Well, OK then. I'll follow the rats." Then I started going into the tunnels, which made me realize that there's a whole new dimension to the city that I never saw before and most people don't get to see.
U Njujorku, pacovi su deo svakodnevice putnika u gradskom prevozu. Većina ljudi ih ignoriše ili ih se plaši. No, meni su počeli da se dopadaju, jer pripadaju životu na rubovima društva. I uprkos tome što ih koriste u laboratorijama da bi unapredili živote ljudi takođe ih smatraju štetočinama. Krenula sam da ih tražim po gradu i pokušavala sam da ih fotografišem. Jednoga dana, u podzemnoj železnici, snimala sam fotografije šina nadajući se da ću uhvatiti pokojeg pacova u kadar, i tada mi je prišao čovek i rekao mi "Ovde ne možeš da fotografišeš. Gradsko saobraćajno preduzeće će ti oduzeti fotoaparat". To me je potpuno šokiralo, i u sebi sam pomislila, "Pa, dobro ako je tako. Slediću pacove". Tada sam krenula u tunele, i tamo sam shvatila da grad ima još jednu meni sasvim nepoznatu dimenziju koju većina ljudi nikada i ne upozna.
Around the same time, I met like-minded individuals who call themselves urban explorers, adventurers, spelunkers, guerrilla historians, etc. I was welcomed into this loose, Internet-based network of people who regularly explore urban ruins such as abandoned subway stations, tunnels, sewers, aqueducts, factories, hospitals, shipyards and so on.
Otprilike u isto vreme sam upoznala druge ljude koji su delili moje stavove i koji su sebe nazivali urbanim istraživačima, avanturistima, istraživačima pećina gerilskim istoričarima i slično. Primili su me u svoju otvorenu onlajn mrežu različitih ljudi koji se bave istraživanjem urbanih ruševina kao što su napuštene stanice podzemne železnice, tuneli, kanalizacioni kolektori, cevovodi, fabrike, bolnice, brodogradilišta i drugo.
When I took photographs in these locations, I felt there was something missing in the pictures. Simply documenting these soon-to-be-demolished structures wasn't enough for me. So I wanted to create a fictional character or an animal that dwells in these underground spaces, and the simplest way to do it, at the time, was to model myself. I decided against clothing because I wanted the figure to be without any cultural implications or time-specific elements. I wanted a simple way to represent a living body inhabiting these decaying, derelict spaces.
Kada sam fotografisala na tim mestima, učinilo mi se da na slikama nešto nedostaje. Prosto dokumentovanje ovih objekata koji će uskoro biti porušeni meni nije bilo dovoljno. Tako sam poželela da stvorim fiktivni lik ili životinju koja prebiva u tim podzemnim prostorima, i najjednostavniji način da to uradim, u to vreme, bio je da sama postanem svoj model. Odlučila sam se za akt jer nisam želela da figura unese bilo kakve kulturne pretpostavke ili elemente koji bi bili obeležja vremena. Tražila sam jednostavan način da predstavim živi organizam koji naseljava ta opustošena i devastirana mesta.
This was taken in the Riviera Sugar Factory in Red Hook, Brooklyn. It's now an empty, six-acre lot waiting for a shopping mall right across from the new Ikea. I was very fond of this space because it's the first massive industrial complex I found on my own that is abandoned. When I first went in, I was scared, because I heard dogs barking and I thought they were guard dogs. But they happened to be wild dogs living there, and it was right by the water, so there were swans and ducks swimming around and trees growing everywhere and bees nesting in the sugar barrels.
Ovo je snimljeno u šečerani Rivijera u Red Huku u Bruklinu. Sada je to neiskorišćeno zemljište od dva i po hektara preko puta nove Ikeine robne kuće koje iščekuje novi tržni centar Bila sam veoma vezana za to mesto jer je to bio prvi industrijski kompleks koji sam sama pronašla koji je bio napušten. Kada sam tamo ušla prvi put, bila sam preplašena, jer sam čula lavež pasa i pomislila sam da su to psi čuvari. Ali ispostavilo se da su to divlji psi koji su tamo živeli a mesto je bilo tik uz vodu pa je na vodi bilo labudova i pataka i odasvud je raslo drveće i pčele su se gnezdile u bačvama od šećera.
The nature had really reclaimed the whole complex. And, in a way, I wanted the human figure in the picture to become a part of that nature. When I got comfortable in the space, it also felt like a big playground. I would climb up the tanks and hop across exposed beams as if I went back in time and became a child again.
Priroda je ponovo preuzela ceo kompleks. A ja sam, nekako želela ljudski lik u celoj slici koji bi u istoj meri pripadao toj prirodi. Kada sam se u tom prostoru počela osećati sigurno, činilo mi se da je to neko veliko igralište. Penjala sam se na rezervoare i skakutala po ogoljenim gredama kao da sam se vratila kroz vreme i ponovo postala dete.
This was taken in the old Croton Aqueduct, which supplied fresh water to New York City for the first time. The construction began in 1837. It lasted about five years. It got abandoned when the new Croton Aqueducts opened in 1890. When you go into spaces like this, you're directly accessing the past, because they sit untouched for decades. I love feeling the aura of a space that has so much history. Instead of looking at reproductions of it at home, you're actually feeling the hand-laid bricks and shimmying up and down narrow cracks and getting wet and muddy and walking in a dark tunnel with a flashlight.
Ovo je snimljeno u starom akvaduktu sa reke Kroton preko kojeg se prvi put dovodila voda u Njujork. Gradnja je otpočeta 1837. godine Trajala je oko pet godina. Napušten je kada je otvoren novi akvadukt sa reke Kroton 1890. Kad ulazite u ovakve prostore, neposredno pristupate prošlosti jer ti prostori desetlećima stoje netaknuti. Volim da osetim auru mesta u kome je prisutno tako mnogo istorije. Umesto da gledate reprodukcije kod kuće, ovde zaista osećate svaku ručno obrađenu opeku i provlačite se kroz uske procepe i budete mokri i blatnjavi i hodate niz mračni tunel sa baterijskom lampom u ruci.
This is a tunnel underneath Riverside Park. It was built in the 1930s by Robert Moses. The murals were done by a graffiti artist to commemorate the hundreds of homeless people that got relocated from the tunnel in 1991 when the tunnel reopened for trains. Walking in this tunnel is very peaceful. There's nobody around you, and you hear the kids playing in the park above you, completely unaware of what's underneath.
Ovo je tunel ispod Riversajd parka. Sagradio ga je tridesetih godina prošlog veka Robert Mozes. Murale su uradili grafiti umetnici da ovekoveče sudbine stotine beskućnika koji su raseljeni iz tunela 1991. kada je tunel ponovo otvoren za železnički saobraćaj. Dok hodate ovim tunelom, sve je veoma mirno. Nema nikoga oko vas, a čujete kako se u parku iznad igraju deca, potpuno nesvesna da je sve ovo ispod njih.
When I was going out a lot to these places, I was feeling a lot of anxiety and isolation because I was in a solitary phase in my life, and I decided to title my series "Naked City Spleen," which references Charles Baudelaire. "Naked City" is a nickname for New York, and "Spleen" embodies the melancholia and inertia that come from feeling alienated in an urban environment.
Kada sam često odlazila na takva mesta obuzimao me je osećaj teskobe i izolovanosti jer sam prolazila kroz usamljeničku fazu u životu i odlučila sam da svoju seriju nazovem "Zlovolja ogoljenog grada" što je omaž Šarlu Bodleru. "Ogoljeni grad" je jedno od imena Njujojrka a "zlovolja" otelovljuje melanholiju i inertnost koji proizlaze iz osećaja otuđenosti u urbanom okruženju.
This is the same tunnel. You see the sunbeams coming from the ventilation ducts and the train approaching.
Ovo je taj isti tunel. Vidite sunčeve zrake kako se probijaju kroz ventilacione šahtove i voz koji se približava.
This is a tunnel that's abandoned in Hell's Kitchen. I was there alone, setting up, and a homeless man approached. I was basically intruding in his living space. I was really frightened at first, but I calmly explained to him that I was working on an art project and he didn't seem to mind and so I went ahead and put my camera on self-timer and ran back and forth. And when I was done, he actually offered me his shirt to wipe off my feet and kindly walked me out. It must have been a very unusual day for him. (Laughter)
Ovo je napušteni tunel u Helz Kičenu. Bila sam tamo sama, pripremala sam snimanje, kad mi je prišao jedan beskućnik. Ja sam u suštini bila uljez u njegovom životnom prostoru. Isprva sam se baš uplašila, ali sam mu smireno objasnila da radim na jednom umetničkom projektu i izgleda da se on sa time saglasio pa sam tako nastavila da postavljam kameru na automatski tajmer i da trčim tamo amo. I kad sam završila, on mi je prišao i ponudio mi svoju košulju da obrišem noge i ljubazno me je ispratio do izlaza. Mora da je to bio veoma neobičan dan u njegovom životu. (Smeh)
One thing that struck me, after this incident, was that a space like that holds so many deleted memories of the city. That homeless man, to me, really represented an element of the unconscious of the city. He told me that he was abused above ground and was once in Riker's Island, and at last he found peace and quiet in that space. The tunnel was once built for the prosperity of the city, but is now a sanctuary for outcasts, who are completely forgotten in the average urban dweller's everyday life.
Taj je događaj na mene ostavio utisak, jer sam shvatila da taj prostor sadrži tako mnogo izbrisanih sećanja grada. Taj je beskućnik, za mene, zaista predstavljao elemenat podsvesti grada. Ispričao mi je da su ga nad zemljom zlostavljali, i da je neko vreme proveo i u zatvoru na Rajkers Ajlendu i da je konačno u ovom prostoru pronašao svoj mir. Tunel su svojevremeno sagradili da bi pospešili razvoj grada, a danas je to skrovište za odbačene, za one kojih se prosečni stanovnik grada nikada niti ne seti u svojim svakodnevnim aktivnostima.
This is underneath my alma mater, Columbia University. The tunnels are famous for having been used during the development of the Manhattan Project. This particular tunnel is interesting because it shows the original foundations of Bloomingdale Insane Asylum, which was demolished in 1890 when Columbia moved in.
Ovo se nalazi ispod mog matičnog univerziteta, Univerziteta Kolumbija. Tuneli su čuveni po tome što su bili korišćeni za vreme rada na projektu Menhetn. Baš ovaj tunel je zanimljiv jer se u njemu vide originalni temelji duševne bolnice Blumingdejl koja je srušena 1890. godine kada se univerzitet uselio.
This is the New York City Farm Colony, which was a poorhouse in Staten Island from the 1890s to the 1930s. Most of my photos are set in places that have been abandoned for decades, but this is an exception.
Ovo je imanje kolonije grada Njujorka što je zapravo bila ubožnica na Steten Ajlendu od 1890. do tridesetih godina dvadesetog veka. Najveći broj mojih fotografija snimljen je na mestima koja su napuštena već nekoliko desetleća ali ovo mesto je izuzetak.
This children's hospital was closed in 1997; it's located in Newark. When I was there three years ago, the windows were broken and the walls were peeling, but everything was left there as it was. You see the autopsy table, morgue trays, x-ray machines and even used utensils, which you see on the autopsy table.
Dečija bolnica je zatvorena 1997. godine nalazi se u Njuarku. Kada sam otišla tamo pre tri godine, prozori su bili porazbijani i boja je otpadala sa zidova, ali sve ostalo je ostalo netaknuto. Ovde vidite sto za autopsije, ležišta u mrtvačnici, rentgen aparate čak i upotrebljene instrumente koji su na stolu za autopsiju.
After exploring recently-abandoned buildings, I felt that everything could fall into ruins very fast: your home, your office, a shopping mall, a church -- any man-made structures around you. I was reminded of how fragile our sense of security is and how vulnerable people truly are.
Nakon što sam prošla kroz nedavno napuštene objekte učinilo mi se da sve može otići u propast veoma brzo: kuća, kancelarija, tržni centar ili crkva... bilo šta što čovek podigne. To me je podsetilo da je ljudski osećaj sigurnosti lako poljuljati i da su ljudi zapravo veoma ranjivi.
I love to travel, and Berlin has become one of my favorite cities. It's full of history, and also full of underground bunkers and ruins from the war.
Volim da putujem, a Berlin je jedan od mojih omiljenih gradova. U njemu ima mnogo istorije, a takođe, ima i mnogo podzemnih bunkera i ruševina zaostalih iza rata.
This was taken under a homeless asylum built in 1885 to house 1,100 people. I saw the structure while I was on the train, and I got off at the next station and met people there that gave me access to their catacomb-like basement, which was used for ammunition storage during the war and also, at some point, to hide groups of Jewish refugees. This is the actual catacombs in Paris. I explored there extensively in the off-limits areas and fell in love right away.
Ovo je snimljeno ispod utočišta za beskućnike koje je sagrađeno 1885. i primalo je 1100 ljudi. Videla sam građevinu iz voza, i sišla sam na sledećoj stanici i tamo sam srela ljude koji su mi omogućili pristup svom podrumu nalik na katakombe koji je za vreme rata služio kao skladišta za municiju a takođe je, u jednom trenutku bio skrovište za izbegle Jevreje. Ovo su originalne katakombe u Parizu. Tamo sam dosta toga istraživala u područjima koja inače nisu dostupna i istog časa sam bila opčinjena tim prostorom.
There are more than 185 miles of tunnels, and only about a mile is open to the public as a museum. The first tunnels date back to 60 B.C. They were consistently dug as limestone quarries and by the 18th century, the caving-in of some of these quarries posed safety threats, so the government ordered reinforcing of the existing quarries and dug new observation tunnels in order to monitor and map the whole place.
Tuneli se protežu na preko 300 kilometara a samo je oko kilometar i po otvoren za javnost kao muzej. Smatra se da su prvi tuneli sagrađeni oko 60. godine p.n.e. Kopani su sistemski i služili su kao kamenolomi i do 18. veka urušavanje ovih struktura je predstavljalo pretnju po sigurnost pa je vlada naredila podupiranje postojećih kamenoloma i kopanje novih tunela za nadzor da bi se cela oblast unela u karte i nadgledala.
As you can see, the system is very complex and vast. It's very dangerous to get lost in there. And at the same time, there was a problem in the city with overflowing cemeteries. So the bones were moved from the cemeteries into the quarries, making them into the catacombs. The remains of over six million people are housed in there, some over 1,300 years old. This was taken under the Montparnasse Cemetery where most of the ossuaries are located. There are also phone cables that were used in the '50s and many bunkers from the World War II era.
Kao što vidite, sistem je veoma složen i nepregledan. Bilo bi veoma opasno izgubiti se u tim tunelima. Ali, istovremeno, u gradu je postojao problem sa prepunim grobljima. Pa su tako kosti prenete iz groblja u kamenolome, čineći ih jednom vrstom katakombi. Ovde se nalaze ostaci više od šest miliona ljudi neki stari i oko 1300 godina. Ovo je snimljeno ispod groblja na Montparnasu gde se i nalazi većina kosturnica. Tu se nalaze i telefonski kablovi iz pedesetih godina i mnoštvo bunkera iz vremena drugog svetskog rata
This is a German bunker. Nearby there's a French bunker, and the whole tunnel system is so complex that the two parties never met. The tunnels are famous for having been used by the Resistance, which Victor Hugo wrote about in "Les Miserables." And I saw a lot of graffiti from the 1800s, like this one.
Ovo je nemački bunker. U blizini je francuski bunker, a ceo sistem tunela je toliko složen da se suprotstavljene strane nikada nisu susrele. Tuneli su čuveni i po tome što su ih koristili pripadnici pokreta otpora, a o tunelima piše i Viktor Igo u romanu Jadnici. Videla sam mnogo grafita iz devetnaestog veka, poput ovog.
After exploring the underground of Paris, I decided to climb up, and I climbed a Gothic monument that's right in the middle of Paris. This is the Tower of Saint Jacques. It was built in the early 1500s. I don't recommend sitting on a gargoyle in the middle of January, naked. It was not very comfortable. (Laughter)
Nakon istraživanja podzemlja Pariza, odlučila sam da se popnem visoko pa sam se ispela na gotički spomenik koji se nalazi u samom središtu Pariza. ovo je kula Sen Žak. Sagrađena je početkom šesnaestog veka. Ne preporučujem sedenje na gargojlu usred januara, bez odeće. Bilo je veoma neprijatno.
And all this time, I never saw a single rat in any of these places, until recently, when I was in the London sewers. This was probably the toughest place to explore. I had to wear a gas mask because of the toxic fumes -- I guess, except for in this picture. And when the tides of waste matter come in it sounds as if a whole storm is approaching you.
I sve to vreme, nisam videla nijednog pacova ni na jednom od ovih mesta, sve do nedavno, kada sam se spustila u drenažni sistem Londona. Na tom mestu mi je istraživanje možda bilo najteže Morala sam da nosim gas masku, zbog otrovnih isparenja, Pretpostavljam svuda osim na ovoj fotogafiji. I onda kada nailazi talas otpadnih voda sve grmi kao pred oluju.
This is a still from a film I worked on recently, called "Blind Door." I've become more interested in capturing movement and texture. And the 16mm black-and-white film gave a different feel to it.
Ovo je kadar iz filma na kome sam nedavno radila, zove se Slepa vrata. Pažnju sam usmerila na to da uhvatim pokret i teksturu. A crno-beli 16-milimetarski film je sve to predstavio na neki drugačiji način.
And this is the first theater project I worked on. I adapted and produced "A Dream Play" by August Strindberg. It was performed last September one time only in the Atlantic Avenue tunnel in Brooklyn, which is considered to be the oldest underground train tunnel in the world, built in 1844. I've been leaning towards more collaborative projects like these, lately. But whenever I get a chance I still work on my series.
A ovo je prvi pozorišni projekat na kome sam radila. Uradila sam adaptaciju i produkciju komada "San" Augusta Strindberga koji je izveden samo jednom prošle godine u septembru u tunelu ispod avenije Atlantik u Bruklinu, to je tunel koji se smatra najstarijim tunelom podzemne železnice na svetu, sagrađen je 1844. godine U poslednje vreme više se bavim ovakvim zajedničkim projektima. Ali kad god sam u prilici, radim na svojim serijama.
The last place I visited was the Mayan ruins of Copan, Honduras. This was taken inside an archaeological tunnel in the main temple.
Poslednje mesto na kome sam bila su ruševine Maja u Kopanu u Hondurasu. Ovo je snimljeno unutar arheološkog tunela u glavnom hramu.
I like doing more than just exploring these spaces. I feel an obligation to animate and humanize these spaces continually in order to preserve their memories in a creative way -- before they're lost forever. Thank you.
Dopada mi se da učinim još nešto pored istraživanja ovakvih mesta. Osećam obavezu da te prostore iznova oživljavam i da im dajem ljudsku dimenziju da bih u kreativnom činu sačuvala njihova sećanja pre nego što budu zauvek izgubljena. Hvala vam.