Father's handcart



<Father's handcart>

Jagalchi market in busan, korea 2012, 09
photo by John Kim



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Jagalchi market in busan, korea 2012, 09
photo by John Kim

<No title>

Jagalchi market in busan, korea 2012, 09
photo by John Kim

I made this photograph a year ago, in Jagalchi market, Busan, Korea. It was 5am, the day before thanksgiving. I went to the market alone to take pictures. I wanted to take pictures of the preparing of a daily task.  As an industry, labor is hard work. It is so laborious but it can be so beautiful.

In Korea thanksgiving is a day of meeting all the family. They gather at the parent's home. Each talk, "how are you”, "how was.....?", "when will you marry?", "did you get a good job? Everyone is so happy and comfortable, romantic. We give thanks for harvesting, thanks for god, thanks for parents. For this reason I decided to take this picture. The man, carrying something somewhere in the early morning. His son might be asleep. Might... but he couldn’t sleep. He woke up early and went to his work ground. He had to earn money by carring things.

At that time I didn't know him but I felt his emotion. Because I have a father. Also my father might feel such emotion. I could identify. Many media had been describing only the mother's life, not the father’s life. So I tried to take this picture to represent the fathers struggle. We can see a father in this picture. The man might be someone's father. Carrying something that is so heavy on his shoulder, his back becomes painful but he has to overcome it, and has to go back to his family. My father, to me represents home. He creates our home like all the other hardworking man.

Written by John Kim