Articles

Photographer of the Week – Y. Zin

By Lia Barrett, September 10, 2015 @ 06:00 AM (EST)

It is the same all over the world. You get to your scuba destination, check in, get your gear sorted, and look around to see who you will be diving with over the next few days—because, let’s face it, the company around you can greatly impact your experience. But in sizing up a group of new dive buddies, there are stereotypes about certain people and their abilities. I know this because I am a short, Asian female with a large camera. So when I turn up at the dive boat, it’s not without notice that peoples’ faces drop, whispers ensue, and thoughts of “I hope she’s not in my group” can be read squarely in mere eye language.

Yet stereotypes can be deceiving. Especially when you are a petite, Korean-born shooter who also happens to be a National Geographic photographer with a set reputation in the commercial world of image-making above water. This acclaimed lady is Photographer of the Week, Y. Zin. And she’s quite likely to out-shoot and out-dive most on the dive boat.

Angel-1: Fine art series, featuring Korean actress Ji-Min, Y.Zin underwater studio, Korea

Though I relish in the practice of dispelling common prejudices, Y. Zin needs no defense, for her work speaks for itself. To her underwater imagery, she introduces her above-water style that seems almost softened and subdued by the weightlessness of the watery landscapes. Her photographs incorporate a grace and elegance, especially notable in her images of people. And where imagination and photography intersect, it is not difficult to understand why her images appeal across the spectrum of photographic disciplines.