Meet the Columbans, by Aujin Rew - Invisible Photographer Asia (IPA)

In 2013 I set out to meet and photograph the Columban missionary priests in South Korea. They first came to Korea from Ireland in 1933.

My grandmother lived in a small town near one of their first churches and her whole family was baptized there. I grew up as a Catholic and the Columban missionary priests were my first encounter with a foreign world.

Many years later, after living and travelling abroad for many years, I met again in Korea one of the priests from my childhood. My experiences overseas taught me how hard and challenging it is at times to settle in a foreign country, and the encounter with the priest made me curious about how his life in Korea had been. With this ongoing project I’d like to tell the stories of the young priests of my childhood.