언 강과 사진 : Melting River

언 강을 자주 보게 된다.  언 강 사진을 자주 찍는다. 봄이 오면 단단 했던 강의 표면이 점점 녹으면서 얇아진다. 살얼음 판에 돌을 던지면 구멍이 생긴다. 내가 사진을 보는 것은 언 강에 구멍을 내는 일 같다. 사진은 언 강이고 내가 사진을 보는 것은 그것이 녹거나 구멍이 생기는 일이다. 의미가 생기는 순간 꽁꽁 얼었던 것이 녹는다. 그렇다면  사진이 녹으면 그것은 그림이 되는 일이다.

 

 

I often find myself looking at frozen rivers, and so I began to photograph them frequently. When spring arrives, the once–solid surface of the river gradually thins as it melts. I throw a stone onto the frozen river. What had been a single body begins to loosen, split, and open. A hole appears. I look at the photographs again. Staring into a photograph feels like melting the frozen river. The photograph is the ice, and my gaze is what melts it. The moment meaning emerges, what was tightly frozen begins to thaw. When a photograph melts, it becomes a painting.