Photographer An Sae-hong has been taking pictures of women around the world who were forced into sex slavery by the Japanese Army during World War II since 1996. (image: An Sae-hong)
SEOUL, Jun. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — A Korean photographer will hold crowd-funded photo exhibits featuring portraits of women around the world who were forced into sex slavery by the Japanese Army during World War II, in Seoul in August and in Tokyo in September.
Photographer An Sae-hong has been taking pictures of these women since 1996. A ‘preview’ exhibition will be also held from June 16 to 21 at Ryugaheon Gallery in Seoul.
An has been meeting and taking photographs of women from Indonesia, East Timor, the Philippines, Korea and China. The exhibits will also feature their stories to be shared with visitors at the gallery.
All of the living victims, about 150 women from 8 countries, are currently in their nineties.
An has held such exhibitions fifteen times in Japan. He said many citizens in Japan who were not aware of the issue were able to get to know these women’s stories.
He also filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court in 2012 against Nikon after they cancelled photo exhibitions scheduled to be held in Tokyo and Osaka.
Although the Tokyo court ruled against Nikon and An held the exhibitions as scheduled, he said Nikon refused to help with promotional activities.
An also said he has received threatening e-mails and faxes since the lawsuit against Nikon.
However, he is determined to continue sharing his work until the Japanese government shows a consistent attitude towards the issue.
He is raising funds from the public through a website (http://hope.daum.net/donation/detailview.daum?donation_id=109983) to hold the exhibitions.
Supporters will be able to make donations until June 15.
By J. W. Choi (summerchoi@koreabizwire.com)
