PhotoBook ' HOW TO STORE YOUR STUFF IN NATURE '
Title: HOW TO STORE YOUR STUFF IN NATURE
Photography: Pionara
Publisher: Pionara Press
Text: Martin Parr
Dimensions: 36cm x 27cm / Hardcover / 114pages
Year: Nov 2021
* All photos were taken after actual installation, not computer composites.
* Following the example in the book, anyone can store stuff in nature.
* All photographs were taken in Thailand and Indonesia. 2018-2019.
* Following the example in the book, anyone can store stuff in nature.
* All photographs were taken in Thailand and Indonesia. 2018-2019.
Artist Statement
I stayed in Thailand and Indonesia for over a year. The new flora in the tropics brought me a new perspective and interest in plants. And then I started the photography series 'How to store your stuff in nature'.
First, This series is an experiment to maximize the visual amusement I experienced through tropical plants and to combine nature photography and still-life photography in my way.
Second, on the surface, it seems to be a kind of introduction to various ways of organizing stuff with plants, but in substance, it is artwork that questions stereotypes about the relationship between nature and humans.
In the scenes where objects and plants imitate each other's shape, and by granting new roles to store things to plants, unfamiliar plants become familiar and familiar objects become unfamiliar. This also could be the other way around. Through this process, we recognize that nature and man-made, the resemblance of completely opposite things, and the interaction between them.
However, I want this photo book to be interpreted in all different ways depending on the viewer. For example, it can be regarded as practical information, play for simple fun, or experimental photographic work.
Therefore, I chose a title that sounds like a practical book and precisely selected stuff that can be stored in plants in practice. Following the example in the book, anyone can store stuff in nature. With this practicality and reality, the meaning of the photo book is enriched and expanded.
Awards / Selection
2022 'Singapore Photography Festival' Photo Book Open Call Finalists
2021 'Life Framer' Open Call Winners
Photobook review by ' Martin Parr '
We are all familiar with the wonderful plants that can be found in the tropics. Colourful and magnificent plants attract so many photographers to depict their beauty. You only need to glance at images on social media to see countless examples of this genre.
Pionara, a photographer from South Korea, has taken this basic idea and made it Pionara’s own. By locating beautiful plants and adding in select objects, Pionara has performed a very convincing trick. Sometimes we can hardly tell that any object has been added, such as the flower buds, now adorned with cotton buds. With many of the images, you need to look carefully to see if Pionara has added any rogue element, but with others, a hilarious combination can make us smile.
We see plants where money is growing, umbrellas, women's shoes, and the list goes on. What is so engaging is to try and work out the connections and how Pionara has mischievously placed domestic objects in place. I am also reminded of the surrealist movement, as the initial glance matches our expectations of how plant imagery should look. We then digest the images and take delight in spotting the everyday objects being integrated into the photographs.
One thing I know is whenever I view photographs of beautiful plants again, I will be checking to see if there are items hidden in the images. I must thank Pionara for this as I can never quite get Pionara's images out of my head.
Pionara, a photographer from South Korea, has taken this basic idea and made it Pionara’s own. By locating beautiful plants and adding in select objects, Pionara has performed a very convincing trick. Sometimes we can hardly tell that any object has been added, such as the flower buds, now adorned with cotton buds. With many of the images, you need to look carefully to see if Pionara has added any rogue element, but with others, a hilarious combination can make us smile.
We see plants where money is growing, umbrellas, women's shoes, and the list goes on. What is so engaging is to try and work out the connections and how Pionara has mischievously placed domestic objects in place. I am also reminded of the surrealist movement, as the initial glance matches our expectations of how plant imagery should look. We then digest the images and take delight in spotting the everyday objects being integrated into the photographs.
One thing I know is whenever I view photographs of beautiful plants again, I will be checking to see if there are items hidden in the images. I must thank Pionara for this as I can never quite get Pionara's images out of my head.
Martin Parr
Nov 2021
