Photographers: July 2006 Archives

I wasn't much interested in seeing the Atta Kim show at ICP (or the concurrent show at Yossi Milo) until I read today's review in the NY Times.

Every day, hundreds of tourists snap photographs of a crowd- and car-jammed Times Square. The average picture takes — what? — 15 seconds to shoot? The same picture of the same place takes the Korean photographer Atta Kim eight hours. And his Times Square ends up with only an eerie trace of a human presence, like a deserted movie set.

Holland Cotter's above description applies to only one of Kim's projects. His variety of approaches is uncommon for a photographer working at his level. Once a photographer is identified with a particular style of approach, it's difficult to break out into another style. Consider the reaction Bob Dylan got when he went electric.