BP’s Introduction

I had the honor of interviewing a very well established mobile artist on Instagram recently.  She has blown me away every single time she posts.  She was one of them folks on IG who I’d thought, “Hmmm, if I leave a comment, she would never be able to respond because of all the likes she gets or comments she already recieved and my comment would get lost in that mix.”  Well after a few interviews on Juxt and a shot in the dark, I sent her a comment asking for Juxt.  Luckily for all of us she said, “YES.”  Let me tell you why I personally chose June.  Her work is amazing.  I thought to myself, this work represents the artist.  Like if I had a conversation with her in person, she’d be just like some of her photos.  She would emote the same personality.  Calm and engaging.  Open and respectful.  Her photos do represent her.  Shoot, June is just amazing.  Check her out on Instagram:  @cryingjune.

B:  BP  J:  June

B:  Who is CryingJune? The person.  The name. Where you are from?

J:   My name is June YunJung John. I’m Korean born and raised and living in Seoul. I was pretty precocious when I was a kid and now I’m getting childish as I grow older.(So to speak, It’s kind of ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ situation. In my case, only the inside.)
I live with my husband and my daughter and Frantz and Margot. Frantz and Margot are figures in Torsten Holtz’s painting, ‘Pink Clouds’. I gave them those names after I bought that painting. They are looking each other in the face tenderly surrounded by pink clouds.

I’m a coffeeholic, a comic book reader, an art lover and definitely an asphalt kid. And I feel myself to a realistic dreamer, a pessimistic optimist and also a clumsy perfectionist.

 

This is <A Woman>. The day I took this shot was very cold but fine, so I could capture the fantastic blue of sky.

B:  Where you are from, how does this influence your art?

J:    The density of population in Seoul last year was 16189 persons to a square kilometer. It’s up to eight times more than New York, four times more than Paris, three times more than Tokyo. The streets of Seoul are normally congested with traffic. Everyone seems busy as a bee and everything changes so fast.

Under this circumstances, it’s only natural for me to try to keep things around me simple and to make a blank space in my head and mind. A room for breathing, meditation, imagination… Or sometimes just for a complete blank. I think that’s one reason simplicity is the keynote of my photos and they have a negative space. If I was born somewhere else like an island in the South Pacific, my photos would be different obviously.

Another reason can be said to be an oriental sentiment that I’ve been influenced. Spirits(or invisibles) have been valued more highly than matters(or visibles) in our society from old times. You can see blank space easily in Korean paintings such as landscapes or still-lifes. It is an absolute necessity in Korean paintings and it means it is filled with spirits. Even though I’m not a big fan of those, looking at them sets my mind serene. If my photos make someone tranquil, it’ll be due to the oriental sentiment inside of me.

B:  Can you describe more in detail where you are from? The people, the geographical area, the most beautiful parts/ the ugly, desolate parts.  What do you love about your area? What do you hate about your area?

J:   Seoul is located in the center of the Korean peninsula. It is surrounded by mountains and the Han River crosses the city. People living in Seoul are mostly very dynamic and diligent. We don’t hesitate to adopt new ideas and we support challenging and experimental attempts. Innovation and development have become virtues. Everything moves very quickly and something new takes the place at once.

So it’s hard to get bored with living in Seoul. This is what I love and hate about my area. Because, at the same time, it’s hard to appreciate what we have as well. I feel sad that almost anything can be easily replaceable and not only material things but also emotions can be disposable these days. The good news is that many people in Seoul have been talking about the beauty of slowness. They’re trying to carry it into their daily lives.

B:  Describe your art and what you would like to communicate?

J:   I take photos and edit them using my iphone 4. It’s because I still don’t have my camera, but it’s really convenient to carry and use. I usually focus on the scene from everyday life in my neighborhood. When I edit, I try to listen to what the picture says to me and make a narrative by taking the simplest elements.

My photo is characterized by negative space. As you know, It’s very useful to emphasize the subject. But in my pictures, it’s not meant to be a helper for the subject. They are equivalent with each other and just have different roles.

Negative space in my photos doesn’t mean that nothing is there. It can be filled with memory, joy, sorrow, longing, emptiness, breeze, melody, words unsaid or anything you can imagine. I leave that space for the viewer to fill it. So my photos depend on viewer’s emotions and imagination. I wish to tell a story with a single picture and I’ll be glad if someone ever listen to it. I believe less is more. My words are ‘imagination’ and ‘you’.

<A Path To the Memory> is one of my favorite. I hope the long and winding road will bring the viewers to their memories.

B:  In your IG profile it states, “Create your own style.”  Describe your style.  What styles do you see around the social networks like Instagram that inspire you?  and Why?

J:   Leaving a simple element in a negative space would be my style in a word. If earlybird filter is added to it, I can say perfectly it is. I tried this and tried that with my photos and apps to create it.  It was such an exciting experiment and I had so much fun.

Style is what my photo is much about. So I’m pleased when people tell me that they can easily recognize my pictures by my style. But these days I can find pictures of the same way with mine occasionally. Something rare and unique is much better than something nice and familiar to me, so I’m thinking how I can develop my style. In a sense, that statement is for myself. I’d like to create my own style again even though I know what’s inside is more important than the package.

Instagram is the only SNS I use, but it’s enough to get inspired. I have a long list of the super- talented IGers. I’ll show you a part of it. Needless to say, @thomas_k is a b&w master and I call @ekalex a b&w genius. @algrega takes b&w shots having a soul, @saturninofarandola reads his philosophical b&w poems. @komeda purifies people’s minds with his photos. @selk has no limit on the subject and the way of expression. @beeoom and @kbasta have a special eye for beauty. @mifjuz and @journeyofnow are two tops of Hipstamatic.

B:  Creatively, what else do you do that keeps you passionate?  This does not include photography but any other art form.

J:   I see an art exhibition. I usually go to the small gallery and see art works by a new artist. And I go to KIAF(Korea International Art Fair) every year. It’s a good chance to see a great number of art pieces and get inspired and read the trend.

Sometimes, I write a short story. It’s interesting to weave a story with a few characters and a happening related to them. I do it for fun, but it’s quite painful to fail to rescue my character from the harsh realities.

B:  What is your opinion on mobile artistry? mobile photography? Some say it necessarily isn’t a viable art form.  What are your thoughts about this?

J:    If someone looks down on mobile photography, I suppose he or she has limited ideas. Mobile photography is a new stream that time has brought to us. I take a shot with a camera, same as other photographers. The only difference is that my camera is in my mobile phone. I take a shot and edit with this one small equipment. Besides, it’s so easy to carry that I can shoot wherever and whenever I want to. The clarity still a bit matters though, I believe It’ll make steady progress. Motive power of the art is a creative idea, not a wonderful gear.

B:  How did you get involved with the mobile arts community?

J:   It started with my iphone last winter. While searching for interesting apps, I found Instagram. It was not the picture itself that I was interested in at first. Having a conversation with people on the other side of the Earth and taking an imaginary trip into their pictures were much more fun to me. To be honest, I had not been interested in photography before I knew Instagram. I believe that people I had met in this community led me to the fascinating world of photography. (Thank you all!)

B:  Describe the mobile arts community.  You have been involved with many projects such as “A Room With A View” and “View To a Thrill”.  What other projects have you been involved in? Can you describe these projects and why you are involved.

J:   For those two books, ‘A Room With a View’ and ‘View To a Thrill’, all the credit goes to Millo @mifjuz. He’s a great photographer and a wonderful friend of mine. He did everything with the book-from gathering people to editing the book. I’ve never seen a man of a passionate drive like him. By taking part in these projects, I’ve come to know many talented photographers. It was a great pleasure for me to be a part of these fabulous compilation books.

And I had chances to be introduced on the website. One is Philobjective, a French website about photography. Carine @nicette06 introduced me as an artist of the month. It was about four months ago, but you can still see it at http://www.philobjective.com. Another one is The App Photo, a wonderful Spanish website. http://www.theappphoto.com/fotografo Luis @lpereira gave me a space of mine on it and held an exhibition in Madrid. It was the first exhibition that I participated, so it meant a lot to me.

This is <Nocturne>, one of ‘The Concert’ series. This series consists of four photos and it was printed in the book, ‘View To a Thrill’.

B:  Outside of all this mobile artistry, what does June do for a living? Describe to us, the typical day for @cryingjune.

J:   I’m a housewife, so I do the housework. And also I correct someone else’s manuscript as a freelancer at home. I majored in Korean Literature and I was a college newspaper reporter, so this writing job is a pretty good sideline for me. I usually take on the job of rewriting art-related manuscript such as a review or a collection of pictures or a paper on art.

B:  What does passion mean to you?  What does love mean to you?  What does hate mean to you?

J:    I can’t say in a word, so let me tell you my associations from those words.
Passion: literature. music. art. photography. environmental movement.
Love: spring. My Chemical Romance. coffee. Georgia O’keefe. peach. gray. spending time alone. Raymond Carver. cinnamon roll. travel.
Hate: interference. rudeness. karaoke. smoking. politician.

B:  What does community mean to you?

J:    I know it sounds weird, but It’s like a family consisting of friends to me. I feel so close with people in this community that I don’t have time to be alone.

B:  Currently you have 52,000 (plus or minus) followers.  What would you like to say to them?

J:   Thank you for your likes and sweet words always. You’ve been encouraging me and I’m truly grateful for that. I wish to visit all your streams and see your pictures, but it isn’t easy for me as you can imagine. I feel guilty for not returning your kindness and I hope you understand that I’m trying. You and your pictures show me how much the world is beautiful and warm. Big love to you. Let’s enjoy shooting!

This shot was taken at the street of Hong Kong and He was one of the passers-by carrying a plastic bag. His figure in the picture looked like a <Broken-hearted> man, so I erased the bag and put this title.

B:  Lastly, if you could tell us you’re plans for 2012 as far as:  A. Mobile Arts, B. Life outside of Mobile Arts.

J:   A. I’ll keep taking photos and posting them and being inspired looking at other people’s feeds. I’m also planning to make a little book of my photos. I think it will be a nice present for me. B. I’ll try to live happily ever after with my husband and my daughter and Frantz and Margot.

Juxt thanks you June.

June YunJung John Instagram:  @cryingjune

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Brad Puet

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