Net: LEE GUNMOK Captures Time and Tide Through Minimalist Abstraction
- WODACC
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
At the World Grand Prix Photography Award 2026 Spring Season, LEE GUNMOK was awarded both the Platinum Award and Photo of the Season for Net, a work that distills the passage of time, labor, and nature into a single, minimalist visual language.
Captured along the West Sea of Korea, the photograph transforms fishing nets into abstract lines suspended across water. Through long exposure and careful observation of tidal rhythms, the image transcends documentation—becoming a meditation on time, memory, and the quiet persistence of human life in dialogue with the sea.
This work filmed nets worked by fishermen in the West Sea of Korea. In the slow shutters, the waves become calm, The net was represented by lines and sides. This thing takes a moment to hold on to the years gone by It is a record of the time the sea has remembered as a minimal image.
Interview
Q: What made you take this award-winning photo? Do you have any behind-the-scenes stories?
GUNMOK:
The award-winning film "Net" was filmed in the West Sea of Korea
The lives of fishermen by the sea always begin in the nets, and time builds up on them.
As soon as the sea water is pushed in by the difference between the tides,
Through the slow shutters, the waves became calm, and the nets were represented by lines.
The many nets on the sea came as if they were wings depicting the traces of time that had been passed away with life.
I wanted to hold on to the passing years of fishermen for a while and record it as a minimal record that will remain in my memory.
Q: Were there any difficulties in making this series? How did you solve it?
GUNMOK:
The shape, color, and installation method of the sea's nets vary depending on the season, location, and species of fish to be captured.
Since it is usually installed and demolished for a short period of one to two months, it is necessary to always listen to the breath of the sea in order to capture the traces of the moment you want.
To record the most vivid and diverse expressions of the net,
When I heard the news that the net was installed, I ran without delay and watched the passage of time and went to film.
Q: How do you approach the balance of technical perfection and emotional/artistic expression?
GUNMOK:
I've been working on ocean intestinal exposure for about 10 years.
Record the moment the subject appears and disappears due to the high tide and low tide using the Stack technique every 1-2 minutes.
Out of the many cuts secured by technical sophistication,
It combines scenes with the most beautiful formative beauty of the time period.
Through this process, the flow of time is reconstructed into a single condensed minimal image.
Q: What message or emotion would you like to convey through your work?
GUNMOK:
The landscape of the moment has another meaning only when time is added.
I wanted to tell the story that the way we live in the present is also precious enough through the changes that time and flow make.
If you cherish and love the ordinary and tiredness of this moment,
I want to send a message that over time, all those moments lead to one meaningful ideal flow.
Q: What role do you think photography plays today?
GUNMOK:
Today, I think photography is an important medium for interpreting and sharing time and emotions beyond mere records.
Especially in a digital environment, images are consumed quickly, but even in them, photography still has the power to stay.
For me, photography reveals the invisible passage of time visually, and makes me look back at everyday moments with a new perspective.
In the end, I think photography plays a role in giving meaning to the moments we pass by and making us reflect on our lives again.
Editor’s Note
In Net, LEE GUNMOK transforms a functional object into a quiet abstraction of time itself.
Through restraint and precision, the work reveals something often overlooked: that the ordinary rhythms of labor and nature, when seen through time, carry a profound and lasting beauty.
Follow the Photographer
Portfolio: https://yeintree.myportfolio.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yein_tree/
