We caught up with the brilliant and insightful JI HOON KIM a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
JI HOON, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
I think creativity is about making new things even if one utilizes the same source materials or techniques, it makes a difference depending on how one combines things together.
In my effort to be more creative, I constantly try to understand how new technologies work and learn them. It’s important especially since we are living in an era where a lot of things are done by machines which means that the majority of people can relate to them. Artists always are under pressure that they have to make new things and I believe learning about new technologies is important since art has evolved its form along with the technology developments. Especially technologies today resonate with people’s daily lives closely, it would be more impactful if artists could make something creative using the technologies we are familiar with.
I recently am interested and studying modeling space in 3D using multiple photographs and combining them to make hypothetical and imaginary space.
I also try to see other works of art as much as possible, not necessarily fine art forms. Developments in social media gave us access to flourishing content. It’s good for an artist to see references but at the same time, potential viewers of art have higher expectations. At the same time, I have to know what other artists do so that I can see what can be more original and new.
The most important thing to keep my creativity is focusing on what I am interested in. Often most artists focus too much on the reaction of audiences. It’s something that artists should consider but not as important as what artists want to say through their art. For that reason, I try to focus on what I like and think about how to develop it in my way.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
As a photographer/videographer in NYC, I work in diverse fields.
I took several photoshoots of capturing space. I always have been interested in capturing the beauty of space since I was in school. My master’s degree thesis was also about building an imaginary city using photos I took in real life. I especially remember the photoshoot I did at the Guggenheim Museum for documenting the artist Samson Young’s installation work inside the museum. His work fit well in the Guggenheim Museum environment and I loved capturing the sense of it.
Another type of photo I have been engaging in is 1/6 scale figure photography. I love watching movies and collecting 1/6 scale (about 12 inches) figures based on movie characters. Not only collect them, I love taking photos and editing them so that they look more realistic. I started as my hobby by posting my photos on Instagram and luckily figure company “Kaustic Plastik” reached out for me to be in charge of their product photos and art directing. So far I have been in charge of their 9 products and design the box art. You can check my work through the links.
https://www.instagram.com/jhtoyphotography/
https://www.jhoonstudio.com/
I have been working as a part-time teacher for 7 years, teaching photography and videography. I never thought I would want to be a teacher before but once I started it, I realized I have a personality that fits to teacher. I am patient in any of circumstances which is good for a teacher since students usually come to the classroom because they are not experts and want to learn. They tend to have many questions and sometimes the same questions over and over. I, myself, was a student who asked so many questions to my teachers, I understand how students feel and I appreciate it. In the past 7 years, my students have me positive feedback about my teaching method and I also feel rewarded to see my students learn the materials.
Pet photography is another field of photos I’ve been working on recently. Living in NYC, I’ve seen many dogs and cats and cat caregiver myself, I love the bonding between humans and animals and I want to capture those. I go to people’s houses with all my photo equipment so that the animals can feel more comfortable and take photos indoors and outdoors. All of my clients were happy with the results and glad to have the opportunity to have their animal friends captured in the photos with high quality.
https://www.nycpawtrait.com/
I’m doing a wide range of photo and video works as I mentioned.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I have three qualities which are consistency, eagerness to learn more, and ability to see what I am good at.
Those apply to other fields as well.
I’ve been taking photos or editing them every day for the past 10 years. Not only because I like them, but also because I believe it’s the way to keep my skills and senses alive or more, developed.
On top of that, I try to keep on learning new skills or techniques. Making art is very much related to technology or new things. In order to make my work new and different, I have to understand what new techniques that I can utilize.
Lastly, I believe one should know if they are good at something or not. Effort definitely helps to build skills and senses but it has limits. Even if someone tries hard, it might not be the right field for the person. I think artists need to know if they are good at the field or not so that they can focus more on the field that they are good at.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Since I’ve been working on figure and pet photography, I would love to work with figure companies and pet product companies. For figure photography, I can take photos and edit them, all I need is new figures as subjects.
In terms of pet photography, I photograph multiple pets, it would be great for pet product companies if the products were in the photos with many different models.
It would be great to reach out to me through email.
[email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jhoonstudio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jhtoyphotography/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jhoonstudio
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jhtoyphotography
Image Credits
JI HOON KIM
