The Prodigal Daughter Returns only in February
The Pacific Ocean, dreams of a better future and time has quite literally split my family. In 1988 and 1990, my father and mother both immigrated to the United States, leaving their respective sprawling families behind in South Korea, for a life in the West. There became an unspoken divide with my immediate family and everyone we left behind. My parents’ phone calls to their parents became less and lesser and then our phones rang for the last time.
Both of my grandmothers passed away in February, my paternal grandmother in 2016 and my maternal grandmother in 2018. The photos in this series are of my family and my grandparents’ communities as they came together to honor their last farewell.
A tale of loss, change, longing and belonging is portrayed. However, The Prodigal Daughter Returns only in February is also a portrait of modern South Korea, a country straddling tradition and contemporary, Shamanism, Buddhism and Christianity. This series is an open ended exploration of my relation to my family and to my motherland.