Observing Youth, by Ahlum Kim

Ahlum Kim pushes for a return to the essential. She explains this philosophy in an interview with Pen. ‘I aim to depict how subtracting the unnecessary reveals the deepest truths.’ It is this mindset that can be found most evidently in her portraits of young people in Japan. 

Born in South Korea, Ahlum Kim moved to Tokyo at age 20. Her passion for photography was born from an affinity with the character Lu Man San from Tran Anh Hung’s 1993 The Scent of Green Papaya, whose face features on the posters for the Franco-Vietnamese production. 

Extracting stories from one look

‘I love photos more than I love cameras,’ says the artist, who always brings the social dimension of the practice to the fore. ‘I find portrait photography to be entirely contingent on people, the light, their expressions–it should be free of fear.’

While the photographer might be reserved herself, she explains, ‘I believe that I can overcome my fears and my complexes through meeting people. People-watching is my hobby, finding charm and stories in them is something I’m good at.’ These moments give way to shots of everyday life, on public transport, at home, or in the streets of Tokyo. 

Ahlum Kim’s work can be found on her website and on Instagram.