Rollover images for slideshow controls

Halabujee (Grandfather)

I never knew my Grandfather that well. I always had somewhat of an estranged relationship with him. My grandfather had two wives– and he would split his time between both sides of the family. To my understanding, my side of the family weren’t given as much love, attention, and socio-economic support as the other side.

Regardless, whenever I went to visit him in Busan in Korea– he always welcomed me with open arms. He inspired me a ton with his daily devotion to writing Chinese calligraphy, which he did until his death (around age 91). Although he was a doctor his entire working life, he picked up Chinese calligraphy after he retired– and self-trained himself and won countless awards. Not only that, his death has made me realize how short life is– and the importance of me to follow my passion.

When I heard about my grandfather’s death, I jumped onto a plane and decided to shoot a project to document his funeral. I brought my Ricoh GR1v, 8 rolls of Neopan 400 (pushed to 1600) and arrived in Busan. In the end, I hand-developed and scanned all the film myself– the tactile experience made me feel even more connected with my grandfather.

I was a bit concerned how my family would feel bout me photographing my grandfather’s funeral– but they let me in with open arms. Everyone knew I was a photographer, and I had access to photograph everything. Except the moment when they opened his casket for the viewing, and everyone wept. My uncle looked at me sternly in the eye and told me not to photograph any of that. I didn’t.

The whole experience was quite emotional for me– but also uplifting. My grandfather’s death brought my family closer together– and also gave me the chance to re-connect with a lot of my lost aunts, uncles, and cousins. In his death we celebrated a new life and beginning with one another in the family.

Photographs & Text: Eric Kim | Website: http://erickimphotography.com