Against the Grain

By Isaiah Winters It’s not every day in Korea that you cross paths with a multicultural married couple in their twenties who are their own bosses, live in a restored … Read More

Nostalgia and Nepotism in Unam-dong

One Neighborhood’s Janus-Faced Goodbye. By Isaiah Winters. Follow the ripple effects of any urban redevelopment project and you’ll be amazed where you end up. This happens time and time again … Read More

Expropriating the Past in Hak-dong

Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters. Among Gwangju’s most neglected neighborhoods, few surpass Hak-dong in their potential. Well situated between downtown, the Gwangju Stream, and Chosun University, Hak-dong even boasts … Read More

Water Over the Bridge

Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters. The year 2020 has offered several powerful reminders of how thin the veneer of stability can be. One such reminder was seen in how … Read More

Odds and (Dead) Ends: The Third Coming

Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters. Welcome to another wholesale liquidation of the half-baked rejects and lowbrow minutiae cluttering my workspace these last six months. In this edition, we’ll first … Read More

Gwangju’s Highway to Nowhere Links Testaments of 5.18

Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters. Impromptu road trips are among my favorite things to do in Korea, and the Honam region rarely disappoints. If only I had the time, … Read More

On the Right Path

Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters. Rotting along Gwangju’s extreme western fringe are the remains of two largely forgotten institutions whose infamous backstories are worth recalling. Located in sleepy Samgeo-dong, … Read More

Remembering Hak-dong’s Humanity

Written and photographed by Isaiah Winters. In 1946, on his second and last visit to Gwangju, Korean independence activist Kim Gu paid a special visit to Hak-dong that would leave … Read More