Myoung Ho Lee (b. 1975) has pursued profound explorations of art through the medium of photography, revealing and evoking reality or creating unreality, thus delving into the representation and reenactment of images. To this end, he has been developing the ‘Photography-Act Project,’ fostering discourse on photographic art while offering unique artistic experiences.

Since 2004, Myung Ho Lee has been continuing his ‘Photography-Act Project,’ a photographic exploration that reflects his reverence for nature and his inquiry into the representation and reenactment of images. The first work in this project, and his iconic piece, is the Tree series. In this series, Lee stages a white canvas behind trees, isolating the subject from its original natural context.

Positioning a background screen behind the subject is reminiscent of the long-standing tradition of studio photography. At the same time, the resulting photographic images evoke the still-life paintings of Western art. By flattening a tree—once an integral part of the vast natural landscape—into a two-dimensional image framed on a canvas, the work highlights the tree as an independent subject, distinct from its surroundings.

The ‘Photography-Act Project’ diverges from traditional landscape or still-life photography by transforming the subject into a seemingly reproduced image through the use of a canvas. This approach introduces a new dimension to the issue of photographic representation by redefining reality through simple installation acts without altering the original form or essence of the subject. In doing so, Lee endows the subject with individuality, offering a fresh perspective on the relationship between reality and representation in photography.

If the Tree series, Lee's first ‘Photography-Act Project,’ introduced a new perspective on the "representation" of photography, the subsequent Mirage series fosters discourse on the "reenactment" aspect of art.

Similar to the Tree series, the Mirage series involves setting up a white canvas in a natural setting. However, unlike the Tree series, which reveals reality, the Mirage series transforms one reality into another

In this series, Lee installs a large white fabric in a barren desert and photographs it from a distance, creating the illusion of a shimmering sea or oasis in the distance. Here, the white canvas functions as a device of illusory simulacrum, exposing the fictional within the real.

Myoung Ho Lee, who focused solely on capturing natural subjects in his Photography-Act Project series Tree and Mirage, began including artificial structures as subjects starting with the Heritage series.

Heritage #3_Seojangdae (2014) was commissioned to commemorate the AICA (International Association of Art Critics) General Assembly held in Suwon and features Seojangdae, a historic pavilion in Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, as its subject. By positioning a white canvas behind Seojangdae, the artist meticulously highlighted the structure’s unique architectural form, emphasizing its historical and cultural significance.

Since being appointed an ambassador for the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage in 2018, Lee has continued to spotlight the value and presence of cultural heritage through his works, focusing on historical sites across various regions.

In his 2018 solo exhibition “Nothing, But” at Gallery Hyundai, Myoung Ho Lee unveiled Nothing But, the third series in his ‘Photography-Act Project.’ While his earlier works utilized the white canvas as a device for representation or reenactment, in Nothing But, the canvas is simply placed within nature, detached from any role of revealing or creating.

Having relinquished the function of revealing or creating something, the canvas encompasses everything precisely because it does not offer anything in specific. Through this act of emptiness, it embodies infinite potential.

Nothing But resides between or beyond representation and reenactment, infinitely expanding Lee’s artistic pursuit of the traces of existence and the essence of reality.

Similar to Nothing But, the 9 Minutes' Layers (2018) series features a blank white surface, reflecting the artist's simultaneous desire and futility in owning and collecting images. At first glance, the work appears to display an empty white sheet enclosed within a frame. However, upon closer inspection, faint traces of prints can be discerned within.

To create these images, the artist captured ten photographs over nine minutes at one-minute intervals, then layered them in Photoshop, blending the three primary colors of light—red, green, and blue. This process results in an image where all forms seem to vanish, leaving only white. Through this work, Lee highlights the paradox of photography as an act of capturing light: the more light is accumulated, the more everything ultimately disappears, revealing the transient and elusive nature of the medium as a ‘Photography-Act.’

In 2020, Myoung Ho Lee participated in the Changwon Sculpture Biennale, presenting an installation project that extended his ongoing ‘Photography-Act Project.’ Tree & Color_Changwon #1 (2020) shares the foundational structure of his earlier Tree series, where a canvas is set up behind a tree. However, this work evolves into a variable and long-term project in which the size of the canvas will be expanded every five years, reflecting the tree's natural growth.

Unlike previous works that used a white canvas, Tree & Color_Changwon #1 features a steel plate coated with holographic paint. This material interacts with shifting light and the movements of viewers, not only altering the appearance of the tree but also transforming the reflections of the surrounding landscape on the surface.

The [drənæna] (2020) series, presented the same year, explores the dual processes of "revealing" (making visible) and "removing" (making disappear), contrasting with Myoung Ho Lee’s earlier works centered on "revelation" through photography.

Inspired by the homophones "드러내다" (to reveal) and "들어내다" (to remove), which share similar pronunciations—represented phonetically as [drənæna]—Lee developed this project to delve into these contrasting meanings. To execute the work, the artist first prints a photograph on paper, revealing the image. He then meticulously removes the thin layer of ink on the surface using a surgical scalpel and magnifying glass.

These works can be understood as both "removing" the image, in the sense of erasing it, and as "revealing" the hidden essence of the image beyond a single layer of surface, leaving room for a dual interpretation.

Lee Myung-ho says that the essence of art lies in revealing a corner of the world. His decade-long ‘Photography-Act Project’ has involved revealing reality, creating the unreal, and addressing what lies beyond, capturing a series of processes that demonstrate the role of art through the medium of photography. And his poetic yet philosophical photographic images make the familiar seem strange, prompting viewers to see everyday life from a new perspective.

“By placing a small canvas behind petty things, I reveal them buried in nature. While what I only do is placing the canvas behind such things instead of drawing them, it has the original meaning of artistic activities.

My childhood dream was to be a postman who delivers the letter of this person to that person. I thought that, even if it is the simplest and the pettiest work, it is also the most fruitful and suitable to me. Art is another form of the dream. To me, art is to reveal a corner of the world and remind it to people, and objectify reason and emotion and deliver them to people.

Myung Ho Lee majored in photography at Chung-Ang University and its graduate school. He has established a strong presence, receiving awards such as the Photo Critic Award (The Committee of Photo Critic Award, 2006) and the Artist of Tomorrow (Sungkok Art Museum, 2009). He has held solo exhibitions at major institutions both in Korea and internationally, including Yossi Milo Gallery (New York, 2009/2017), Sungkok Art Museum (Seoul, 2010), Gallery Hyundai (Seoul, 2013/2018), and Savina Museum (Seoul, 2017).

Lee has exhibited most recently at the Hayward Gallery Southbank Centre (2020), the J. Paul Getty Museum (2019), Kunst Haus Wien (2017), National Gallery of Victoria (2017), and Seoul Museum of Art (2016). His works are included in renowned collections including Bibliothèque Nationale de France, J. Paul Getty Museum, Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam, National Gallery of Victoria, Museo Arte Contemporáneo Salta, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea, and Seoul Museum of Art.

References

• 갤러리현대, 이명호 (Gallery Hyundai, Myoung Ho Lee)
• 국립현대미술관, 이명호 | 나무 2 | 2007 (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea, Myoung Ho Lee | Tree 2 | 2007) 
• 경향신문, 아무것도 없는 캔버스, 작가가 의도한 건?, 2018.12.19
• 갤러리현대(Gallery Hyundai), Myoung Ho Lee 이명호 : Art Billboard Project
• 2020 창원조각비엔날레, 이명호 (2020 Changwon Sculpture Biennale, Myoung Ho Lee)
• 경향신문, 캔버스를 앞으로, 뒤로, 밑으로···이명호가 사진에 ‘개입’하는 법, 2018.12.10
• 고은사진미술관, 이명호 [드러내다] (Goeun Museum of Photography, Myoung Ho Lee [drənæna])
• 금강자연미술비엔날레 2020, 이명호 (Geumgang Nature Art Biennale 2020, Myoung Ho Lee)