“One day, my nephew Sae-hyun sent me a video via Messenger: it was him playing the violin, dressed in camouflage. I was fascinated. A few weeks later, I started the project.
He’s my sister’s son, and like many other uncles around the world, I love him. He was only two years old when I came back from London to live with my parents. We lived together in the same house for about six years. More than a nephew, Sae-hyun is a friend, a brother, a son to me.”
- Hyunmin Ryu

Hyunmin Ryu followed the daily life of his young nephew, Kim Sae-Hyun, for several years, capturing moments of play and boredom, joy and melancholy with remarkable precision. His images, which oscillate between candid scenes and staged, playfully subvert the conventions of family photography. Underlying these images is also a discreet self-portrait of a loving uncle, and a sensitive reflection on the power of photography to capture the fragile transition from childhood to adolescence.

*My Korean Nephew* is accompanied by an interview with the book's young protagonist, now a teenager, who reflects on this extraordinary artistic experience.


This book won the 2024 Maison Blanche Award (an annual photography competition, held since 2011 as part of the Photo Marseille festival, which recognizes emerging and emerging artists in contemporary photography).
__
Hyun-min Ryu (1979) is a Corean photographer. He graduated in Fine Art Photography at the Chungang University of Seoul and then specialized in Photography at the Slade School of Fine Art UCL in London where he completed a Master of Fine Art and Media.
Hyunmin Ryu lives and works in Daegu, South Korea.