The Korean Wave of Plastic Surgery: A Source of Social Power for Women or the Colonization of Women's Bodies?

MODEL: Anonymous   MAKEUP: None/no oneBAG AND DRESS: The model herselfPHOTO: Michael Hurt

MODEL: Anonymous   
MAKEUP: None/no one
BAG AND DRESS: The model herself
PHOTO: Michael Hurt

For my second installment in the Joongang Sunday, I've taken a break from the writing to partner up with Professor Ingyu Oh of Korea University to co-author a story (Korean title: 한류성형: 여성의 새로운 사회적 힘인가 아니면 여성신체의 종속화인가?) in a different kind of way. Professor Oh wrote the piece as I set up and shot three key images that we planned that extend and convey the argument laid out in text. I'll wait for the Sunday story to come out before translating, but wanted to put up my photographic contribution here. In the first image, we shot a "patient" getting a plastic surgery consultation from a real, reknowned surgeon in his Gangnam clinic.  In the shot below, we brought in a model to help us construct an image that visually conveys the appearance and beauty pressures of many workplaces on women these days, to the point that it has quite literally become a fashion show and a point of stress. 

MODEL: Bo Kyoung Julie KO      MAKEUP: OH Unyoung    BAG AND DRESS: Yang's by YANG Hee DeukPHOTO: Michael Hurt

MODEL: Bo Kyoung Julie KO      
MAKEUP: OH Unyoung    
BAG AND DRESS: Yang's by YANG Hee Deuk
PHOTO: Michael Hurt

The images are not to be too literal, but rather give an emotional, visual sense of how  this pressure might look and feel. 

MODEL: Bo Kyoung Julie KO       MAKEUP: OH Unyoung    BAG AND DRESS: Yang's by YANG Hee DeukPHOTO: Michael Hurt

MODEL: Bo Kyoung Julie KO       
MAKEUP: OH Unyoung    
BAG AND DRESS: Yang's by YANG Hee Deuk
PHOTO: Michael Hurt

So look for the full story (in Korean) on newsstands this Sunday! In the Joongang SUNDAY!