‘The Face of a Photograph’ Master Kuwabara Seiji Meets the Filmmaker in Person! Photography Exhibition Set to Open!

All eyes are on a lineup of exciting exhibition news that lets visitors meet in person the iconic body of work by Kuwabara Seiji, the star of 〈The Face of a Photograph〉. 〈The Face of a Photograph〉 is a photo-montage production about the life and photographs of 90-year-old Japanese photojournalism master Kuwabara Seiji, who recorded modern history on the Korean Peninsula for 60 years through 100,000 photos.

To mark the release of the film 〈The Face of a Photograph〉, a Kuwabara Seiji photography exhibition will be held starting Aug. 19 (Wednesday) at Cinecube in Seoul and at CGV Yongsan I-Park Mall. Visitors will be able to see Kuwabara Seiji’s signature works firsthand, and the exhibition is expected to give audiences a fresh set of sights along with the film’s release. In addition, an exhibition photo verification event is also being set up. Among attendees who upload their exhibition verification photos to social media with the required hashtags, a winner will receive an on-site developed photo of actor Jang Koo-young, photographed directly by cinematographer Kim Hyung-sun (photographer) for 〈The Face of a Photograph〉. For more details about the Kuwabara Seiji photography exhibition taking place at Cinecube and CGV Yongsan I-Park Mall, visitors can check the official Triple Pictures social media channels. Meanwhile, from June 11 to Sept. 13, you can also see works capturing the vivid on-the-ground scenes of the DMZ recorded by Kuwabara Seiji at the special exhibition “A Crossroads of the Wind: DMZ,” currently held in the third-floor special exhibition hall at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History.

Photojournalist Kuwabara Seiji came onto the scene like a shooting star after he won the Newcomer Award from the Japan Photo Critics Association for his photographs documenting the horrors of the Minamata disease that even Japanese media had failed to spotlight. Soon after, he drew attention from the photojournalism world. He then kept relentlessly recording upheavals around the globe, including in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Russia. His outstanding artistry and the historical value of his work were recognized as he went on to win major photography prizes in Japan, including the Kodansha Publishing Photo Award (1965), the Japan Photo Association Annual Award (1971), the Ina Nobuo Award (1982), and the Domon Ken Award (2014), cementing his place as a leading photojournalism master representing Japan.

Among the many subjects he focused on most, one stood out: Korea. From the scenes along Cheonggyecheon in the 1960s of ordinary people, to moments large and small that cut across South Korea’s modern history—such as the pro-democracy movement and the U.S. military base towns in Dongducheon, and the dispatch of Korean troops to Vietnam—he captured them through the eyes of an outsider. In particular, his photographs document countless “faces” of South Korea during the whirlwind of modern and contemporary history: workers and citizens, students and children, soldiers and protestors, among others. In doing so, they testify vividly to the history and lives that even we had yet to fully look into.

The photo exhibition 〈The Face of a Photograph〉, which highlights Japanese photojournalism master Kuwabara Seiji, will be available at theaters nationwide starting Sept. 2.