HyunSeok is a documentary photographer from South Korea whose work centers on people, craft, and the changing urban landscape. Born and raised in Seoul, he studied photography at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, where he developed a disciplined visual language grounded in empathy and observation.
His long-term Craftsmanship Series traces the lives of master artisans—swordsmiths in Japan, calligraphers and moonjar potters in Korea, surfboard shapers in Hawaii—each devoted to the quiet rhythm of making. Through this work, he reflects on the meaning of labor in a post-industrial society, where the handmade persists as both resistance and remembrance. For Hyun, craft becomes a lens through which to question how skill, time, and human dignity survive within systems of mass production.
In his Seongsu Project, he turns his gaze toward his hometown, documenting the disappearance of Seoul’s handmade shoe district as gentrification replaces workshops with cafés and pop-up stores. Rather than focusing on the aesthetic of change, he seeks the emotional terrain of those who remain—the craftsmen, shop owners, and residents who embody the memory of a vanishing street.
Now based in London, Hyun is pursuing an MA in Photography & Urban Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he continues to build a practice that merges visual storytelling with sociological inquiry. His photographs consistently return to people—their hands, their work, and the spaces they transform—believing that every act of making is, at its core, a human story.
Editorial & Field Work
2024 – 2025
Nikon Imaging Korea — Club:N 5th Ambassador
Selected as one of Nikon Imaging Korea’s Club:N 5th Ambassadors and served for one year, developing documentary and editorial works highlighting craftsmanship and urban transformation within Korea.
2024
Seoul Metropolitan Government — Seoul Sarang Magazine
Contributed to the editorial photography team at Kyungsung Munhwasa, supporting the production of civic and cultural stories for Seoul Sarang, the city’s official magazine..Produced editorial photographs for Seoul Sarang, the official monthly magazine of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, covering features on urban life, cultural trends and public-policy visual narratives.
Selected Awards
2025
International Photography Awards (IPA) — Honorable Mention, Editorial / Press — Photo Essay / Feature Story
Budapest International Photography Awards (BIFA) — Bronze, Editorial / Press — Photo Essay / Feature Story
2024
International Photography Awards (IPA) — Honorable Mention, Editorial / Press — Photo Essay / Feature Story
Budapest International Photography Awards (BIFA) — Honorable Mention, Editorial / Press — Photo Essay / Feature Story
Tokyo International Photography Awards (TIFA) — Honorable Mention, Editorial — Photo Essay
2023
International Photography Awards (IPA) — Honorable Mention, Editorial / Press — Photo Essay / Feature Story
Budapest International Photography Awards (BIFA) — Honorable Mention, Editorial / Press — Photo Essay / Feature Story
Tokyo International Photography Awards (TIFA) — Honorable Mention, Editorial — Photo Essay
Busan International Photo Festival — Best Portfolio
2022
International Photography Awards (IPA) — Honorable Mention, Editorial / Press — Photo Essay / Feature Story
Moscow International Photography Awards (MIFA) — Honorable Mention, Editorial — Photo Essay
Tokyo International Photography Awards (TIFA) — Honorable Mention, Editorial — Photo Essay
2021
Tokyo International Photography Awards (TIFA) — Official Selection, People — Culture
2020
International Photography Awards (IPA) — Honorable Mention, Editorial / Press — Photo Essay / Feature Story
Tokyo International Photography Awards (TIFA) — Honorable Mention, Editorial — Photo Essay