Des oiseaux
Kyunghee Lee
Atelier EXB
English
Text by Guilhem Lessafre
Hardcover
Signed by the artist, dated Sept 4th 2024
96 pages
205 x 260mm
2023
ISBN 9782365113618
n this book from the collection Des oiseaux (On birds), South Korean photographer Kyunghee Lee takes us into the winter forests of the far south of her country, to meet the crows. At nightfall, motionless, waiting for the birds during their migration from Siberia, the photographer hides among the trees, her tripod protected from the great cold that reigns at this time of year. Flocks of crows emerge from the distance, as if orchestrated by an invisible choreographer. The air is filled with their powerful cries, excluding any other sound from the forest. The photographer knows that she has little time, she carefully presses the shutter button, concentrated, mastering the slightest noise. Suddenly there is complete silence, the darkness is total and the cold air becomes almost compact. The forest offers birds its hospitality.
In a powerful black and white with shades of velvety gray, Kyunghee Lee immerses us in the mysterious world of these birds that populate our myths and legends. Standing out in powerful choreographies on milky skies or on immaculate snow, far from any human presence, the crows of Kyunghee Lee fascinate by the grace of their presence.
This book is part of collection Des oiseaux which celebrates, through the vision of different artists, their immense presence in a world where they are now vulnerable. Accompanying these photographs, the ornithologist Guilhem Lesaffre writes a special essay. Other titles in the collection include: Albarrán Cabrera, Roger Ballen, Graciela Iturbide, Leila Jeffreys, Rinko Kawauchi, Michael Kenna, Christophe Maout, Byung-Hun Min, Yoshinori Mizutani, Paolo Pellegrin, Bernard Plossu, Pentti Sammallahti and Terri Weifenbach.
About the Artist
Kyunghee Lee, from Busan, Korea, holds BS in Pharmacy and PhD in Arts from Busan National University. Her publications include ‘island’ (2008, Toseisha, Japan), ‘The Seventh Sense’ (2012, Toseisha, Japan) and ‘Film Map’ (2017, Noonbit, Korea). The most recently released is ‘Des Oiseaux’ (2023, Atelier EXB, France).
Her work has been exhibited in over 14 private and 40 group exhibitions internationally, including Japan, Australia, China, and the US. In 2023 the group Exhibition Des Oiseaux featuring her work was held at Landskrona Museum, Sweden and Breda Kerk, Netherlands.
lensculture.com/kyunghee-lee-2
(source: https://www.lensculture.com/kyunghee-lee-2)
About the Publisher
Atelier EXB publishes works that address new forms of photography, contemporary art and sciences. Founded in 2002 by Xavier Barral, and taken over in 2020 by the five members of the team (Jordan Alves, Nathalie Chapuis, Yseult Chehata, Charlotte Debiolles and Perrine Somma), the publishing house conceives each book with great attention to both content and form. To question the forms of photography, to bring to light artistic voices, to approach the major questions which innervate our contemporary societies through the image: the Atelier EXB is at the same time a space of creation, curiosity and opening on the world.
Aesthetic rigor and editorial content, developed in close collaboration with major names in contemporary creation as well as more emerging figures, make up astonishing works where many artists and authors from around the world. To date, the catalog includes more than 300 critically acclaimed works.
exb.fr
(source: https://exb.fr/en/content/8-presentation)
