Portfolio Sung Bin YOON

MAGNUM X SPÉOS

CREATIVE DOCUMENTARY AND PHOTOJOURANLISM 2023 - 2024

TEARS OF

Yeah, the texts don‘t match the photos - on purpose.

And the texts are about the photographer than the photographs. But is it really unrelated?

I was once a vulnerable kid. Maybe waiting for help. Maybe wanting to end this life.

I look back and think…

How could a little kid feel such deep and dark emotions?

I don’t know if I had a childhood. I had adolescence. That’s about it.

I know how to survive, but do I know how not to?

How not to panic? How not to be anxious?

I don’t know if I learned how to smile? I don’t know if I know how to do that.

I cried often. In fact, that was the only thing I knew how to do properly. I cried and cried. I screamed and I was wild. I was angry at my mom, my brother, my school, my so called friends. The world that gave birth to an existence called me.

If I see the world with tears, my imagination grows. Or maybe that is the only way to see the world.

I don’t cry anymore. When my grandpa died, I felt nothing. When my grandma died, I felt nothing. Tragic things continue to happen and I cry with broken souls with my heart, but I don’t cry.

Maybe I should cry.

People try to keep orders and discipline.

I was in the army and I hated it. Self-hatred was so severe.

I am the opposite of order and discipline. If I have to pick a side, I’m chaos and I found a comfortable life in unpredictability and the unknown.

My therapy is looking at trees.

Big, gigantic trees. Those trees have withstood the time. Drought and Flood. Cultures. Kingdoms. Politics. Wars. Generations. People’s bullshit. I want to be like a tree when I grow old. Nothing crazy. Just there. Always there for everyone. I want to die knowing that I tried my best all my life to help troubled people.

I owe everything to these beautiful people who allowed me to breathe again. The best I could do is to show the strength and vastness of Tanzania, of Africa.

Tanzania is a land of contrasts—it rains, it's hot, it's cool, it's flat, and peaceful. Despite challenges like intermittent electricity and lack of running water, there's a prevailing sense of Hakuna Matata no worries. That’s right. Why worry?

These photos were taken in Tanzania in February 2024, from Mwanza to Arusha, with an 11-hour bus ride in between this gigantic land of beauty.

You can see the Basukuma and Maasai people living in the land of Tanzania. Peoples and cultures vary; I know there are at least 120 different tribes. For example, our hosts William and Josephine in Bujora were from the Fipa and Luo tribes, simply migrated to Sukumaland, or Arusha host Meyasi being Maasai living in Maasailand. While attempting to write about my Tanzanian friends, I found that the photos I took reflected my own story. They captured moments that allowed me to reflect on my past and find healing. As the land can take in 120 groups of people, it also gladly took in my 120 emotions and traumas, and also, my 120 drops of tears. In Tanzania, amidst the downpour of rain, lies not just their stories but mine and perhaps yours as well. It's our collective journey, our shared tears, and our pathway to healing.

Yoon Sung Bin is a South Korean Photographer.

Born in 1997, he is known for capturing dynamic portraits that reveal the unseen depths of each subject. Starting from 14 years in Korea, he has lived across Canada, the Philippines, Switzerland, Germany, and the United States. This diverse background shapes his unique perspective.

His artistic vision extends beyond traditional boundaries, seamlessly blending poetry with imagery to create evocative and enigmatic compositions.

In his work, he not only gives voice to the voiceless but also finds resonance with his own journey of self-discovery as he navigates the realms of beauty, ambiguity, and profound storytelling.