A photography exhibition was held last November in the College of Arts building at Chonnam National University. During the COVID-19 situation, about 250 people came to the exhibition, hosted by the photography club ‘ZOOM’, which was successful. It proved that people were still interested in well-choreographed photographs. The Chonnam Tribune will introduce the brief history and activities of the club in this article.

     ZOOM was founded in 1974 as a small group named ‘Photographic Arts Studies’ in Medical School, but as. As time passed, it became open to students from other colleges and has survived until today. Its main activities are taking pictures, having seminars, exchanging experiences with other photography clubs from other universities, and most importantly, hosting their biannual photo exhibitions. Sometimes, other school clubs or school facility members request for help with filming or taking pictures of their events, and so, the club also participates in those kinds of activities. The club president, Kim Pyo-chan (Junior, School of Material Science and Engineering) said, “We also even had government sponsored exhibitions that required cooperation with other clubs, but the last one was held a few years ago, and we have not had the opportunity since then.”

     The COVID-19 situation has been one of the biggest hardships on many clubs, and ZOOM is not an exception. Most of their activities are based on meeting people and visiting new places to take pictures, and they did not have many opportunities to do so last year. Still, the biannual exhibitions must be held as it is the club’s tradition, so they had to improvise by dividing into teams to take on tasks. Luckily, they were able to open the exhibitions under those experimental conditions.they were able to open their biannual exhibitions under experimental conditions by dividing into teams to take on tasks. Kim added that they are currently making as many plans as possible to be properly prepared for the spring semester.

     One of the questions students frequently ask is whether they need to bring their own camera to join the club. The answer is they do not need to. It already has several cameras passed down from seniors, and all members of the club can use them. Currently, the club is concentrating on communication and promotions through social network services, so anyone who is interested in photography can preview their photos and ask questions. Photography is a hobby that anyone can enjoy with proper knowledge and equipment. If you have passion for photography, go and visit ZOOM where they could tell you everything about it.     Since all club members are students, it is impossible to provide professional training as the regular curriculum of the club. But it has a long history of seniors passing down their knowledge to juniors,due to its long history of club activity, so their accumulated knowhow is quite abundant. There is always a member who is in charge of education. They frequently host seminars on how to handle a camera, how to edit photos, and even how to print their own photos. “We also give advice on how certain techniques, such as chroma or contrast, can affect the final result of photos. It is ultimately about how to film photos you want, and anyone who is interested can get advice from us.” the chief trainer of the club, Kim Min-yeong (Junior, Major in Intelligent Mobility Convergence) said.

By Jo Beom-seo, Tribune Reporter