When you begin studying photography, you end up looking at the work of many different artists. As I grow older, I realize that the photographers who left a deep impression on me back then have—if they are still with us—become true masters. One of them is Ralph Gibson.

If you want to know what kind of artist he is, AI can tell you everything, provided you are interested. For me, I think I was moved by the simple abstraction of his images. A simple word! One word per shot is enough. The rest is up to the viewer.

Perhaps it’s because I felt that the way Gibson sees and the way I see are similar. He delved deeply into that genre, while I feel as though I’ve repeatedly stepped in and out of it. A difference in personality, perhaps.

Because of his age, he no longer holds workshops. I had hoped to attend one. Observing the life of a master is a good way to understand oneself. Though every master is different, Gibson is an artist I want to truly know. I want to understand his thought process. What a workshop offers is the chance to learn the process—to walk the path the artist has traveled, alongside them. Seeing that path allows me to see my own. That value cannot be converted into money. It is something that governs one's destiny.

Road.

Speaking of "The road" reminds me of my youth. After graduating from art school, I opened a restaurant I had always wanted to start. To find a name, I meticulously searched through a thick Korean dictionary from beginning to end, and the word I found was "Miro" (미로).

Back then, my Korean was clumsy, so I didn’t realize the common meaning of Miro is "maze" or "labyrinth." I simply thought of it as "Beautiful Road" (美路). I also thought of the artist Joan Miró. I think I wanted my life to be a Beautiful Road.

I am still doing "Miro"—or rather, my wife is running it—but now it is L.A. Miro in Laos. Since I live in Laos now, L.A. feels like a hometown that isn't quite a hometown.

Almost half a century has passed since those days. And yet, it all feels like yesterday!

Young people, do not be fooled by youth!

It is only for a moment.