I stumbled into this mysterious old quarter in Seoul during my travels. The further one wanders in, the smaller the alleys get and the older the shops appear. 

While the locals put on suits and ties and go to work at the adjacent gleaming new glass and steel office towers, middle-aged men in Euljiro operate band saws or large presses, amid the smell of grease and metal all around. Perched on a tiny stool on the sidewalk, a roving knife-sharpener scrapes a blade across a whetstone, while nearby another man works in a shop where the entire floor is covered in rusty metal hooks. Porters ferry things around on two-wheeled dollies, and motorcycle drivers drop off and pick up deliveries.  It’s nearly all men who do these things in the alleys. 05.09.2017 


Colophon


03 · Euljiro
ISBN 978-981-11-6667-9


54 Photographs by Shyue Woon · First edition published in 2018 · Co-publisher — Invisible Photographer Asia · Edit — Kevin WY Lee, Shyue Woon · Design — Practice Theory · Essays — Rachel Ng Translation — Caroline Kim · Paper — RJ Paper Printing — Allegro


Page Spread (excerpt)



Essay


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