Hello, this is 속초어때 (Sokcho Eottae). At 3 a.m. on Thursday, September 17, Sokcho (속초) is 18 degrees and clear, with a 0% chance of rain. Waves are 0.2m, among the calmest this week, and the water temperature is 23.6 degrees. Traffic is flowing smoothly on Misiryeong-ro (미시령로), Donghae-daero (동해대로), and Seoraksan-ro (설악산로). Today we've picked one story that suits the quiet weather. An exhibition opens today by a photographer who has spent more than a year and a half photographing nothing but Sokcho scenery reflected on the water.
Opening today: Min Jun-gyu photo exhibition 'Harmony of Waves, Light, and Reflection'
The photo exhibition 'Harmony of Waves, Light, and Reflection' by Sokcho-based photographer Min Jun-gyu runs from today, September 17, through the 22nd at the exhibition hall of 속초문화예술회관 (Sokcho Culture and Arts Center). It is sponsored by Sokcho City and the Sokcho Culture and Tourism Foundation.
- Dates: September 17 (Thu) – September 22 (Tue), 6 days
- Venue: 속초문화예술회관 exhibition hall (155 Beonyeong-ro, Sokcho, Yeongnang-dong (영랑동))
- Works on display: 31
- Meet the artist: September 19 (Sat), 2–4 p.m.
- Inquiries: 속초문화예술회관 033-639-2080
We could not find any published information on viewing hours or admission fees. If you plan to go early in the morning or on the last day, the 22nd, it's a good idea to call the center before heading out to check its opening hours.
1,000 shoots, 31 works: what made the cut?
What catches your eye first about this exhibition is the numbers. The artist has shot more than 1,000 times at Sokcho's waterside since January last year. That's a span of about 1 year and 8 months, meaning more than one trip to the water a day. Of all the photos gathered that way, 31 go on the wall, roughly three keepers for every 100 outings.
What the artist captures is not the reflected scenery itself. It is the momentary changes as moving ripples meet the light. Some photos freeze the ripples with a fast shutter, while others blur them with a long exposure. Buildings, boats, and sky shaken by the ripples warp and scatter, producing images where reality and abstraction blend. In other words, many photos show familiar Sokcho scenery, yet you have to look for a long time to recognize where they were taken.
Min Jun-gyu took up photography in 1997, when he picked up a digital camera while working as a high school teacher, and has steadily taken part in photo exhibitions in Korea and abroad ever since. The character of this exhibition is that it is not a large curated show, but a record built by a local photographer going back and forth to the same waterside hundreds of times.
The four locations in the photos: here's how they look now
The works were shot at Cheongchoho Lake (청초호), the waterway near the Gaetbae ferry (갯배), Dongmyeong Port (동명항), and Jangsa Port (장사항). All are easy for travelers to reach, so it makes a nice route to see the exhibition and then stand in the same spots yourself. Here's the situation right now, according to 속초어때's real-time data.
- Cheongchoho Lake: Crowded. The lake park walking path and the area around Expo Tower are known as popular spots among photography enthusiasts.
- Dongmyeong Port: Moderate. It sits right next to Yeonggeumjeong (영금정), so crowds gather around sunrise, but it is relatively uncrowded at the moment.
- Sokcho Port (속초항): Moderate. The Gaetbae waterway connects Sokcho Port and Cheongchoho Lake, so the routes overlap.
- Jangsa Port: Not covered by our crowd data, but it is in the same northern part of Sokcho as the exhibition venue, making it the closest.
Even at dawn, the Daepo Port (대포항) observatory, Oeongchi Port (외옹치항), and Cheongchoho Lake are showing as crowded, so if you want to quietly gaze into the water, Dongmyeong Port or Jangsa Port is the better choice.
Waves at 0.2m today, a rare condition for reflection photos
For photographing scenery reflected in water, wind and ripples matter most. Today's wave height off Sokcho is 0.2m. Compared with the waves of up to 4m that crashed in during last week's high-seas advisory, the sea is almost like a lake. The water inside the harbors is even calmer.
- Sunrise 06:08: At Dongmyeong Port or the east side of Cheongchoho Lake, the sky's colors start spreading across the water 20–30 minutes before sunrise. Get into position around 5:40.
- Sunset 18:31: From Cheongchoho Lake you can see the Seoraksan (설악산) ridgeline to the west, so reflections are good at dusk. If you wait until around 7, when the lights come on at the harbor and lakeside, you can also see the lights stretching across the ripples.
- Shooting with a phone: Hold the lens as close to the water surface as possible and try flipping the image upside down. Looking at the reflection on its own, you'll quickly understand the 'reality and abstraction' feel the artist talks about. Leaning out over railings or climbing onto the breakwater tetrapods is dangerous even on calm days, so please avoid it.
The daytime high is 24 degrees, so it warms up quickly once the sun is up, but the waterside at dawn is at the low of 18 degrees with some wind, so it feels colder. Bring a light jacket.
Yeongnang-dong, home of the venue, celebrated the end of a 35-year restriction yesterday
속초문화예술회관, where the exhibition is held, is in Yeongnang-dong. As it happens, just yesterday, September 16, the neighborhood held a rather special gathering. The Yeongnang-dong Residents' Autonomy Committee hosted an event commemorating the lifting of the height restriction around a military communications facility, attended by about 100 people, including Sokcho Mayor Lee Byeong-seon, National Assembly member Lee Yang-soo, and residents.
Here's the background. An area of 1.887㎢ in and around Jangsa-dong and Yeongnang-dong had been designated a restricted protection zone around a military communications facility for 35 years, since the 1991 amendment of the Military Telecommunications Act. Buildings exceeding an elevation angle of 2 degrees from the communications facility could not be newly built or extended. When the military communications facility designation changed this past July, most of the residents' living area was freed from the restriction, and on July 24 a vision proclamation ceremony attended by about 600 people was held in the main auditorium of the same arts center.
For residents, this means a path has opened to pursue projects such as renovating aging houses, building apartment complexes, and expanding infrastructure. Nothing changes right away for travelers, but it also means the northern coastal scenery stretching from Yeongnangho Lake (영랑호) to Jangsa Port could change over the next few years. Capturing today's low rooftops and harbor scenes in photos is meaningful in its own way.
Here's a tidy way to plan your route
If you're a traveler, we recommend seeing the exhibition at the arts center in the afternoon, heading up to Jangsa Port, less than 10 minutes away by car, to see the harbor waters at dusk, and then having dinner. Alternatively, if you're staying downtown, you can watch the sunrise at Dongmyeong Port and go to the exhibition in the morning. All access roads are flowing smoothly, so getting around today should be easy.
If you're coming on the weekend, aim for the meet-the-artist session at 2 p.m. on Saturday the 19th. You can hear directly which waterside spots the artist went back to and how many times, and how the shutter speeds were chosen. That same evening at 6 p.m., the first screening of 씨네테이블 (Cine Table) takes place under Seorak Bridge (설악대교), so it's easy to link your schedule from afternoon into evening. However, with the Chuseok holiday next week, traffic coming into Sokcho may increase from the weekend, so leave with some extra time on Saturday.
If you live in Sokcho, stopping by today or tomorrow, on a weekday, will be the quietest. After seeing how the Cheongchoho Lake and Gaetbae waterways you pass every day were captured, the color of the water on your way home from work may look a little different. The exhibition ends on Tuesday the 22nd, so be sure to catch it before the holiday.
At a glance
- Min Jun-gyu photo exhibition 'Harmony of Waves, Light, and Reflection': today, September 17 – 22, 속초문화예술회관 exhibition hall, 31 works
- Meet the artist: September 19 (Sat), 2–4 p.m.
- Shooting locations: Cheongchoho Lake, the waterway near the Gaetbae ferry, Dongmyeong Port, Jangsa Port
- Today's weather: clear, 18–24 degrees, 0% chance of rain, waves 0.2m, water temperature 23.6 degrees
- Sunrise 06:08, sunset 18:31
- Yeongnang and Jangsa, 1.887㎢: height restriction lifted after 35 years, residents' commemorative event yesterday
Today we looked at an exhibition by a photographer who has shot Sokcho's waterside more than 1,000 times, and at the story of Yeongnang-dong, where the venue is located. Did you find it helpful? On days when the sea is calm, take a moment to look at Sokcho reflected on the water. 속초어때 will keep bringing you what's actually happening in Sokcho right now, quickly. We'll be back next time with even more useful information.
