ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the conceptualization and dissemination of the representation of pungsok, or customs in Korean visual culture, from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. As the studies of Song Seok-ha proved, pungsok became over-coded with the claims of cultural authenticity and eternity of Korea as a nation. Photographers captured pungsok as Pictorialist photography in order to express individual sentiments as well as the nationalist consciousness in colonized Korea. The advancement of modernity in Korea cannot be fully understood without considering its relationship with Western power and with modern Japan. Art historians agreed that the artist was a specialist in the genre scenes for the purpose of export to foreign countries, and therefore his works cannot be considered in the context of traditional genre painting of the Joseon dynasty. The discourse of culture intersected with the currency of art at various points within the colonial circumstances.
