Domon Ken Award Winner Seung-Woo Yang’s exhibition with Zen Foto “We’re shit but champions” is a celebration of the release of the new edition of “The Best Days”, which has long been out of print after it was first published in 2012. "The Best Days" is Yang's earlier work photographed between 1999 to 2006 when he was studying photography in Tokyo. Driven by the suicide death of his comrade, Yang documented his life trajectory and people around him while he traveled back and forth between Japan and Korea. The exhibition will be showing about 30 pieces of works in monochrome selected from the photobook.


Life was lonely without a few copies of “The Best Days”.

Due to a series of circumstances, a new edition of the series is now being published.

Thanks to that, my boring but happy life has become somewhat richer.

This is around the 8th time for me to exhibit this series in and out of Japan.

It may be strange for me to say so, but people might actually think, “what, again?” knowing there will be another exhibition for this series.

Since my daughter was born last year, I am planning not to exhibit this series anymore until she turns 20.

- Seung-Woo Yang

Seung-Woo Yang Born in Korea, Seung-Woo Yang first came to Japan in 1996. After graduating from Nippon Photography Institute and the photography department of Tokyo Polytechnic University, he completed his graduate research in Media Art at Tokyo Polytechnic University and continued his career in Japan. In 2016, his publication “Shinjuku Lost Child” with Zen Foto Gallery, a monochrome street photography series which focused on the people at Kabukicho, Shinjuku received the 36th Domon Ken Award. He also released “End of the Line - Kotobukicho” with Zen Foto Gallery in 2017 and had his solo exhibition in inbetween gallery, Paris, expanding his activities internationally. His other publications so far include “You’re there and I’m here” (Shinpusha, 2006), “You’re there and I’m here 2” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2011), and “The Best Days” (Zen Foto Gallery, 2012).