Constructed Myths

Digital manipulation of images, once a novelty in photography, has come of age as a practice that is beginning to share common ground with documentary photography.

Reality and virtuality are coming together in a new manner of sharing stories. Both of these women use sagas and legends as the point of departure for their digitally constructed stories; both examine the psychological effects of our experiences, how we perceive and dream. They both construct story lines within which each photograph is an episode, inseparably connected with the rest of the series.

But the results they achieve differ greatly. The pitch black coal mine photos by Colette Campbell-Jones are charged with the dread of being swallowed up by the earth. Won Seoung Won’s exuberant colour photographs express a deep love for the Korean landscape.