Elated to share that this photo of Nam Ye and Choon Ja from Jeong series made it to finalist at @palmstudios photo prize 2022🙏🥺❤️ Thank you to all the judges, I didn’t expect this and this means a lot to me. Exhibition will be held at @1014.gallery in London, UK from May 5 - June 5 There are so many other stunning works that @palmstudios and collaborators worked hard to curate. If you’ll be around, I recommend checking them all out. Wish I could be there! ——————————————————————————— Jeong is a Korean term that is defined as “a type of deep-seated love which can be directed to all, living or not” according to SeoulSync. To expand, it can be both simple and complex. According to Christopher K. Chung, M.D. and Samson J. Cho, M.D. it can include “feeling, love, sentiment, passion, human nature, sympathy, heart” as well as “basic feelings such as attachment, bond, affection, or even bondage.” “In essence, jeong refers to the emotional and psychological bonds that join Koreans. The uniqueness of this phenomenon lies in its ubiquity and its source: the collective nature of Korean society.” For Koreans who've endured much political turmoil throughout its entire history of the nation, extending Jeong to each other has been a necessary form of survival skill and self-preservation, and ultimately a revolutionary act of mutual aid and collective care. During this wave of violence against Asian American and Pacific Islanders, I, as a Korean American, can only think of this form of survival that sustains us as a way to not lose heart. When I feel Jeong, it helps me to not be led with fear in this country. I consider acts of kindness and loving gestures that uncover, reveal, and lay bare hope as a practice of harm reduction. To learn more, I asked a few people in my community what Jeong means to them. Nam Ye: To me, Jeong is a reminder that people and nature are rooted in the same place. We have to nourish each other. Choon Ja: I feel Jeong when as a neighbor, Nam Ye checks on me day and night on how I am doing. Her care and presence is Jeong. ——————————————————————————— Spread Jeong🤘🤘🤘 Poster design by @eym.studio Special thank you to @janiekang also❤️