Most of us walk past the same streets every day without noticing much. But for Jina Park, these spaces become frames where the ordinary turns into art. The web of wires turns into ‘Veins of the City’ while the temple stairs become ‘A Stairway to the Infinite’, and a thousand windows tell ten thousand stories. Beauty, indeed, lies in the eyes of the beholder.
These frames have come together in an exhibition ‘Lyrical encounters: India through a Korean lens’. Having lived in India for over two years, Jina has travelled across states including Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu, and cities like Varanasi and Ladakh, capturing the culture, everyday life, and silent moments in her camera.
The exhibition was inaugurated on Friday by Chang-Nyun Kim, consul general, Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Chennai. “To me, photography is not just capturing reality; it’s a form of art. It’s about how to frame a subject, how to use light, and how the photographer uses her creativity,” he says, while also highlighting how such works strengthen the relationship between Korea and India and bring them closer. “Tamil Nadu and Korea have much in common in history and culture,” he adds.
Jina also points to a cultural contrast she has witnessed through her lens. In her country, people are generally less open to being photographed on the streets. In India, she says, “they want to be photographed and they also like to photograph me. It’s like a friendly connection.”
Photography isn’t always planned; sometimes things happen so quickly that you just pull out your phone and capture it instinctively. “Most of the time, it begins with an impulse or a feeling, something I can’t quite explain,” Jina says, describing how she raises her camera and lets the composition unfold almost instinctively. “It’s a habit now, a way of quickly giving form to that initial emotion. I follow what moves me first, and then I shape it through composition,” she adds.
Jina also shares how overwhelmed she initially felt by the sounds, colours, spices, and overall culture. At the same time, she was deeply fascinated by the kindness of the people she met. During her visit to Varanasi, she met sadhus. “One of them casually showed me his Instagram, which was not something I had prepared for. We shared small talk and a few laughs,” Jina recalls, reflecting on how disarmingly human they are, figures she had once imagined as out of reach or almost mythical. In Odisha, she encountered tribal women at a weekly market and was struck by the way they continue to live in remote areas while preserving their traditions.
In her endeavours, Jina describes herself as an outsider, as someone who photographs what often goes unnoticed. Talking about one of her works, ‘Veins of the City’, she describes a scene where overhead wires hang tangled between houses along the street. “It connects houses and people; it is very symbolic to me,” she notes, adding that such scenes feel unique as they are not commonly seen in other countries.
Viewers at the exhibition appeared deeply intrigued by Jina’s vision. Moving through each frame and engaging in conversations with her to understand the stories behind them, the event became an exchange of stories and laughter. “India is more than what we read in the newspaper,” she says, hoping audiences can see the beauty she has found, and the joy of walking through its spaces and connecting with people along the way.
The exhibition will be open till April 26 (closed on April 23), 11 am to 7 pm at Shakunthala Art Gallery, CP Art Centre.