Fearless Flowers - subcultures of South Korea and their sense of belonging

"Fearless Flowers" is a two-year project that explores gender, sexuality, and identity in South Korea. It features 23 participants and aims to capture open-mindedness, acceptance of one's body and sexuality, and rebellion against the conservative society.

In the past years, South Korea has gained significant global exposure, and its fast‑paced technological development has drawn a lot of attention from everyone around the world. 
The "Fearless Flowers" book explores gender, sexuality, gaze, and identity in South Korea. The project, photographed over two years with 23 different participants, studies one's relationship with their own body and inner struggle with the image pressured by a conservative society, where certain beliefs and outdated standards are forces on the rapidly changing nation.
Adorned with flowers, the human body represents universal innocence, timelessness, and purity. The subject, who may convey toughness in other settings, is shown with vulnerability and humanity when photographed in a safe studio environment. Ornamented with flowers, the black garment, which represents the society uniform, is a metaphor for the fight and struggle of each subject and beyond.
The series is an attempt to capture open-mindedness: acceptance of your body and sexuality, as well as welcoming the self-created modern image of who Korean people aspire to truly be. It is creativity's role to rebel its spirit against society's preconceived ideas and question their relevance.
As an outsider, I've had the privilege to be introduced inside this personal expression of liberation, looking for meaning, looking at the beauty and identity, all while capturing the landscape of self-invented people: a true walking work of art.

be you.
be provocative.
be loud.
be present.
be patient.
be free.
be chaotic.
be passionate.
be purposeful.
be picky.
(…)
be not for everyone.