Geoje International Photo Festival: Photographers community gathers in Geoje Island

A couple walks around the Geoje International Center, taking a look at the photographs as part of the Geoje International Photo Exhibition on Nov. 28, 2015.

November 27 marked my first visit to Geoje Island, the second largest island in Korea. The reason was quite simple and interesting. My photographs had been selected as part of the first Geoje International Photo Festival and I was also on assignment to cover the festival.

The two-day journey to the so-called ‘Sin City’ of Korea started with a bus ride. The snow covered mountains loomed on both sides of the road and the white rooftops protected with cotton-like layers. The near five-hour ride came to an end and then another hour to find my destination: Geoje International Center in Okpo (https://geojeinternationalcenter.wordpress.com)

My first day included helping out in arranging the photographs and subsequently, dinner and coffee, ending the night with a few beers in the hotel room, watching a UFC show, dubbed in Korean.

The next morning, it was show time. The exhibition began and I hopped down to the venue, observing a number of visitors lost in thoughts, analyzing and enjoying the 150 photographs exhibited. But that was not all there was to it. There were multiple workshops, inviting amateurs and professionals alike to learn and advance their photography skills.

A visitor looks at the photographs taken by photographer Rahul Aijaz at the exhibition.

Joshua Herrin, Pete DeMarco and Debbie Collins conducted individual seminars on photo editing techniques, portrait photography, camera cleaning tips and black and white conversion and Lightroom ideas exchange.

In a room full of amateur, hobbyist and professional photographers, DeMarco shared Lightroom techniques and how every photographer’s process differs from the other. The experienced users then shared further tips with others in separate groups, so each participant can learn as much as they could from the workshop.

The photo festival turned out to be a great occasion to meet new photographers, some more experienced, some in the initial learning stage who were nonetheless enthusiastic about the opportunity at hand. Being a mainly portrait and street photographer myself, I came across some wonderful landscape and urban exploration photographs, that intrigued me into possibly experimenting in those genres as well. Some photographers that come to mind are Roy Cruz, Oisin Feeney whose photograph shot in Gonjiam and Macbeth Omega whose stunning landscapes caught my attention.

The festival attracted most of the foreigners living in Geoje as well as some who traveled all the way from different cities such as Seoul, Busan and Daejon.

What fascinated me most was how the Okpo area of Geoje was a small community, similar to Haebangchon in Seoul. It felt like a bigger ‘Itaewon’ as it came to my knowledge that Geoje has more foreigners than we have in Itaewon. A communal bond is present among the residents. People are much friendlier and laid back than in most parts of the busy Seoul.

The idea of gathering emerging as well as professional and experienced photographers from all over Korea proved to be a great learning experience for beginner enthusiasts.

The festival venue, Geoje International Center, holds regular events and classes for the Geoje community involving Korean language classes, hiking, cooking, dancing, art, concerts and many other events. The photo festival was one of such events to create a ripple in the market and continue the flow of learning and sharing, reaching out to photographers all around the Korean peninsula.

A boy plays during the festival

A visitor walks around the photo exhibition

A family observes the photographs at the exhibition.

(All photographs are taken by the author)