JEONGHWAN HAN

 Jeonghwan (Jay) Han is a self-taught photographer and night-shift trauma-nurse, based in the East Bay, California. Jay was born in Busan, South Korea, and he immigrated to New York City in the early-2010s, where he first worked as a trauma center nurse and encountered a wide-range of human experiences. Jay became drawn to film photography as a medium of visual “active listening” and human connection, and was further inspired by his admiration for the mechanical precision of Leica cameras and the nostalgia of Kodak Portra, which he developed by hand, in the warm air of his Bronx apartment. Common themes explored in his New York City street photography (primarily black and white 35mm) include agoraphobia of the newfound city landscapes as an immigrant. He also explores seeking refuge as a member of the working class—reflected in his portraiture of subjects at Coney Island as well as the Occupy Wall Street movement. 

 Now in the Bay Area, Jay has expanded his work beyond street photography and portraiture to documenting the many peaceful protest movements and PRIDE events of the Bay Area. More so, Jay is inspired to capture fleeting moments of beauty in Northern California’s natural environment and landscapes. By closely observing his surroundings, Jay increasingly finds refuge in the quiet and gentle moments he observes in the Bay Area, which often exist in stark contrast to the moral injury and constant triage of modern life.  

jayhanphotos@gmail.com

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