amateur category
The forest (Series)
DESCRIPTION
The forest is our home. The various colors seem more beautiful than ever. I like the forest where sounds, scents, and insects harmonize and embrace each other. I love the forest. I also want to resemble the forest, so I put it in an angle full of love. My whole body feels light as if I was born anew. While working on the topic of the forest, I put down the past and open a new day full of hope and happiness in my heart.
AUTHOR
SoonOk Ryu is a photo artist drawn to the emotional resonance inherent in painting, expanding painterly aesthetics through photography. Using digital layering processes, she reconstructs images that emphasize texture and atmospheric depth. Her work moves beyond simple representation, focusing on visualizing time, memory, and inner emotion.
By recording the same subject from multiple perspectives and layering these moments, forms and boundaries gradually dissolve, revealing subtle emotional strata. This abstract approach questions photography’s traditional function and explores the tension between the visible and the invisible. For Yoo, the forest is not merely a natural setting but a psychological space and a metaphor for the inner self, guiding viewers into quiet contemplation.
Her work has gained international recognition. She was nominated in the Fine Art and Architecture categories at the Fine Art Photography Awards in 2023 and 2025, and received Honorable Mention in the Fine Art category at the International Photography Awards in those same years. Active in South Korea and France, she participated in the Arles Off Photo Festival (2024, 2025) and Paris Photo Days (2024). In 2025, she held her solo exhibition Veil – The Forest Within in Seoul.
By recording the same subject from multiple perspectives and layering these moments, forms and boundaries gradually dissolve, revealing subtle emotional strata. This abstract approach questions photography’s traditional function and explores the tension between the visible and the invisible. For Yoo, the forest is not merely a natural setting but a psychological space and a metaphor for the inner self, guiding viewers into quiet contemplation.
Her work has gained international recognition. She was nominated in the Fine Art and Architecture categories at the Fine Art Photography Awards in 2023 and 2025, and received Honorable Mention in the Fine Art category at the International Photography Awards in those same years. Active in South Korea and France, she participated in the Arles Off Photo Festival (2024, 2025) and Paris Photo Days (2024). In 2025, she held her solo exhibition Veil – The Forest Within in Seoul.
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