A veteran photographer, he was a focus of media attention with his photographic exhibition, ‘Trip in Early Morning,’ which expressed new fresh perspectives on the Korean landscapes. In 1994, he was the first to be honored as a Korean photographer with a Gold medal from New York Festival, which is one of the top three advertisement firms in the world; and in 1997, he was awarded a Gold Medal from Cannes International Advertising Festival. He is also well-known as the main photographer for Korean Presidents from the 15th to 18th Presidency. His published work includes photographic book, ‘Trip in Early Morning.’
He artistically expresses with boundless genre in travel and documentary photographs. Roaming over 100 countries, he has published 22 books of photographic essays containing diverse forms of humanity, as well as writing books including, ‘As if not coming back’ and ‘The tool for life.‘
As a freelancing photographer, he contributed photo essays and columns to various magazines and media. Currently, he is active as a professional photographer for the Heritage Channel, a cultural program. Since 2004, he had been passionately recording the Woopo swamps of Korea, an internationally protected area.
A world-recognized photographer and editor, he had been a production manager and an editor for National Geographic and also, a Seoul special correspondent for Time magazine. In 1971, he received an award for excellence in photographic editing from an American press; in 1974, he was first to be awarded as an excellent foreign correspondent for his 1973 special report on North Korea; and also in 1979, he was honored with an award for his photographic reporting at the White House. In addition, as an outstanding editor, he was recognized with an award for editing and designing by an American design group; and also another award for his excellence in editing by an American publishing group. He was a member of photographic expert panel for Korean Joong-ang Ilbo; a editor for Gio, a monthly magazine; guest lecturer for department of educational engineering at Ehwa Women’s University; and an endowed chair professor for Sang-myung University.