[Unstagram] Why It Becomes Lovable Only After Long Observation

Editor's NoteWriting about photographs and visible things, the passage of time, and human relationships. ‘Unstagram’ is a coined term meaning photographic (gram) stories that are not instant (insta~) but un~ immediate.

The poem "It is lovely because you have to look at it for a long time" (Na Taeju, ‘You Have to Look Closely to See Beauty’) is deep and implicit the more you read it. The essence of relationships is contained in the short sentence spoken after long observation and reflection. Usually, things become boring and numb the longer you look at them, which is natural, so what is it that becomes lovely only after long observation? When familiar things become familiar and the front and back of visible things are distinguished, their unique characteristics and individuality emerge. Judgments about strengths and weaknesses are subjective, so if there is even a little fondness, there is a moment when it stands out and becomes special. Loveliness is the feeling of beauty toward a specific object.

In 2012, the full text of a poet's poem was displayed on the exterior wall of Kyobo Bookstore in Gwanghwamun, Seoul. This is the reflection seen on the glass early in the morning. Some poems are read again as images.

Familiarity plays a dual role in beauty. Some things become boring as they become familiar, while others can only be seen after becoming familiar. Whether beauty or flaws, it is not a matter of will but a sensory process that happens with a time lag. What is beautiful at first glance easily catches the eye and is remembered. And some specialness may not last long. Oscar Wilde wrote in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ that "Beauty fades with familiarity." That is beauty decided at first sight. Conversely, things that seemed insignificant but gradually catch the eye respond to a different dimension of beauty. Existence that was blurry or too small to notice becomes revealed, and new relationships between visible things begin to speak. Since language cannot fully condense all aspects of facts or emotions, it is necessary to understand the relationship of facts and emotions that are ‘this way and that way’.

The level of sensation indicates the level of emotion, the level of a person, and also the level of society. The level of emotion matures by accepting diverse perspectives and viewing phenomena from a three-dimensional viewpoint. Obvious and overused language such as sweet consolation or blunt encouragement is difficult to sustain beyond the moment. Even the effect of a single word has stages and levels, such as insight and depth of language that come from experience and knowledge. The nature of being bored with repetition and clich?s demands new sensations and raises the level of expression. The same applies to visible things (such as photographs, paintings, or films). Direct beauty or emotion that wants to replace words and even fulfill the function of words is materialistic and hard to last. Being able to feel and welcome things that somehow make you feel good and subtly permeate your world is the result of developed senses. Depending on one’s attitude toward life, there is a moment when you realize that you have matured without knowing it. It is not the awareness that you have suddenly become a mature person, but the awareness that things that were certainly there before but unconscious are now revealed before your eyes, and the relationships or meanings of objects and existences become visible.

The poet placed emphasis on the special reason and meaning of the emotion by saying "You too." To say this, he spoke at length about looking closely and for a long time, using as many as two lines. Saying "You too" is the poem’s way of saying "It is you indeed."