Book Review: Hakuda Photo Studio by Her Taeyon
About the book
"When will I get to be the main character in my own life?"
Burnt out by life in Seoul, Jebi has come to Jeju Island for a much-needed summer holiday.
But on the last day of her trip, she loses everything: phone, credit cards, plane ticket. Looking for help, she stumbles across a tiny photography studio. Then and there, she makes a choice that will change her life forever.
Jebi accepts the offer of a job from the studio's frazzled owner, Seokyeong. The photos they take together capture the magic of the island and its people. From the young couple struggling with cold feet before their wedding, to the ex-cop haunted by secrets from his past, and the geologist who discovers a precious fossil on one of Jeju's pristine beaches, each has a story to tell.
By following her dreams, Jebi finds the family she never had.
Why we love it
This is not the book I thought it would be. There’s a certain pattern and rhythm to much of the fiction in translation that’s come out of Korea and Japan in recent years - a hint of magical realism, episodic chapters focused on different characters and an over-riding arc joining it all together in a feel-good inspirational or uplifting ending. This is not that book.
Hakuda Photo Studio by Her Taeyeon (translated by Shanna Tan) might start with a somewhat predictable set-up but quickly turns into something much more complex and layered.
The story is centred around Jebi, a 25-year-old woman who at the start of the book has just spent a month on holiday on Jeju Island, a popular South Korean holiday spot. In an unfortunate turn of events as she’s due to fly home, her phone falls into the sea leaving her unable to access her plane tickets and digital wallet.
With no job to return to and no real home waiting for her, she ends up staying on Jeju Island after a chance encounter with photographer Seokyeong who offers her a job in his struggling photography studio/cafe.
An easy assumption at this point might be that this is your typical meet-cute moment but it soon becomes clear that both Jebi and Seokyeong are carrying a ton of emotional baggage and processing grief and loss in profoundly different ways.
As a duo though, they make an excellent business team - Jebi is smart, practical and realistic while Seokyeong is talented and creative. With their combined skills, they soon turn the studio into a thriving business.
As a steady stream of characters pass through the studio, each sharing their own story, the book gradually reveals a deeper understanding of Jebi and Seokyeong’s pasts and the ways in which they might, in turn, help each other move forward.
One of the things I loved most about the book was the strong sense of place running throughout it, with the island community and its inhabitants providing an authentic backdrop for the story. Learning about the Haenyeo, female free-divers who harvest seafood from the island coast, was particularly fascinating.
Tying the book together is the role of photography itself, with the camera lens becoming the tool through which memory, identity and relationships are most honestly captured and unexpected truths revealed..
As I said at the start, Hakuda Photo Studio is most definitely not the book I thought it would be, but it’s no less enjoyable for that surprise. This is an engaging, character-led novel that leans into emotion without becoming overly sentimental. It’s as much about healing and second chances as it is about human connections.
If you fancy book that’s full of heart, with a strong sense of place and relationships that don’t follow the obvious path, then it’s definitely worth a read.
