‘Umma and Father’ is a photographic survey of Korean women who married American soldiers stationed in South Korea. It is a documentary project that is personal, political, and historical. As I photographed and interviewed these interracial couples and their families, I could relate to them both within a historical context and on a personal level. These Korean wives have long been considered an ignoble group by other Koreans because of their marriages to ‘outsiders’. Additionally, they feel isolated from the rest of the American society because they are Asian. Due to frequently limited language abilities and differences in culture, there are also many communication difficulties for these women, even within their own families.
Being equally fluent in English and Korean, I was able to find opportunities to meet and talk to the women and their families. Since a considerable number of these women worked as prostitutes near the U.S. military camps in Korea, only a few agreed to be photographed in their homes. There were many more who refused to be photographed at all. None of the subjects wanted to have their names published.
*‘umma’ is a Korean word for ‘mother’
