Closer To the Bone

  • Dates
    2022 - Ongoing
  • Author
  • Topics Contemporary Issues, Daily Life, Fine Art
  • Locations Chicago, San Jose

'Closer To the Bone' is an ongoing observation and contemplation of vision, influenced by my experience working as an ophthalmic photographer.

I encountered thousands of people’s eyes and photographed them, in order to help treat their vision and health. As a result, I am interested in the various ways in which vision shapes our world and the perception of it.

The advancement of imaging technology such as AI and machine vision has made ‘seeing’ an increasingly complex sensory activity. The inexhaustible cycle of distributing and consuming images has influenced the way we understand and misunderstand the world. In this condition, what does it mean to see and to be seen? What does it mean to make photographs? What lies under the surface?

In this ongoing series, I combine photographs made in technology conventions and museum displays, with photographs from the visceral moments that I encounter in my daily surroundings. The sequence of the photographs plays an essential role in my work, as I view the breadth of the series as a whole rather than single images. I embrace ambiguity in the way that my photographs are presented, to evoke interpretive narratives to form through the relations between the photographs. Altogether, this body of work explores the trajectorial relation between vision and visibility – how we view the machine, how the machine views us, and how we view ourselves through the eyes of the machine.

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Grounded, 2022
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Grounded, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Skins, 2021
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Skins, 2021

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Sleep Study (Side), 2022
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Sleep Study (Side), 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Like You, 2022
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Like You, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Sleep Study (Front), 2022
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Sleep Study (Front), 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Nephew's Ceiling, 2022
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Nephew's Ceiling, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Points, 2022
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Points, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Siegfried, Roy, Tiger, 2022
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Siegfried, Roy, Tiger, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Cosmopolitan, 2022
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Cosmopolitan, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Hibernation, 2022
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Hibernation, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Neighborhood Watch, 2022
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Neighborhood Watch, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - the button to see, 2022
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the button to see, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - 35 star constellation, 2022
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35 star constellation, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - From there to here, 2022
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From there to here, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Contact, 2022
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Contact, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - You're not really there, 2022
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You're not really there, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Breed, 2022
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Breed, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Objects in mirror are closer than they smell, 2022
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Objects in mirror are closer than they smell, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - Pleasure, 2022
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Pleasure, 2022

© Kyle Gyumin Dong - So Soon, 2022
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So Soon, 2022

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