Photo Essay: Blessed by Heaven – Gyeongbokgung Palace in the Heart of Seoul

During the Chuseok holiday, me and my girlfriend went to Seoul. It was a long way to the destination due to the traffic congestion all over Korea, which was the result of people going to their hometowns to celebrate with their family members. Right after our arrival, we decided to visit the royal palace Gyeongbokgung, which is the largest of the five palaces in the heart of Seoul. Truth be told, we had not visited this place before. Gyeongbokgung, which means “palace blessed by Heaven,” really impressed us with its beauty and size. The palace gives astonishing views of the modernity of dynamic Seoul, mixing old and new times together. It really gives a special

feeling when you see people walking around the palace wearing hanbok. We immediately started immersing ourselves in this experience and wore hanbok ourselves. We took some cool shots using a tripod and timer in front of the gate. Oddly enough, we could not go over all the palace because it was about to close for the evening shift. When we began to go somewhere else, I came across a pagoda right in the middle of the road. This view was certainly meant to be captured. Even though we only caught a glimpse of the front yard of the palace, we enjoyed our time and took good photos.

The Photographer

Hailing from Uzbekistan, Kogay Vladislav is a graduate student at Chonnam National University majoring in non-governmental organizations. Photography is his passion, especially portrait and landscape photos. Instagram: @ko.h4neul