In the winter of 2012, photographer Caroline Philippone traveled to the southernmost point of South Korea, to an island called Jeju. Intrigued by the culture and the landscape she had heard about, Philippone set out to document the island’s mountainous region, coastal towns and temples in winter time over a two week period.

August 30-December 17, 2016

Twenty-five photographs, selected from 125 exposures, represent Caroline Philippone’s “photographic love letter” to the island of Jeju. The tiny island off the southern tip of South Korea offered a special beauty the photographer was not anticipating when she embarked on a two-week vacation in December of 2012. Philippone did not intend to turn her trip into a working venture. Yet she photographed her surroundings nearly every day during her time on Jeju-do. The landscape and the natural beauty of the island entranced her. As a photography instructor and professional photographer, she maintained a strict use of black and white photography. She was armed with a medium format camera and a pinhole camera, which provided the perfect tools for capturing the subtle nuances of light and shadow. Philippone’s photographs capture much more than just the beauty of the island. Her images present the viewer with a sense of what defines the historical and cultural constructs of the two million year-old island. Her composition and aesthetic approach preserve a sense of tranquility paired with echoes of voices and sounds from the past.