In the early years of the 21st century, the contemporary art world of Korea is heading towards the path of qualitative maturity together with quantitative expansion to be in tune with the era of globalization. At the center of contemporary art that is becoming internationalized, photography has secured its position as an independent genre of art rather than a simple tool of reproduction. Furthermore, photography has surfaced as an important medium that imparts significant impact to the art itself. The 2nd Daegu Photo Biennale focuses on this aspect to present photography as a new artistic genre and to appreciate its identity within contemporary art. In addition, by perceptively and synchronously looking at the photographic art of South Korea, China and Japan, the driving force of Northeast Asian art that is receiving attention around the world, this event will evaluate the present state and estimate the future of photographic art. In particular, the Daegu Photo Biennale 2008 will extensively deal with the artistic identity of Northeast Asia amid the diverse phenomena of the internationalizing contemporary art world. Therefore, it will expose the originality and experimental quality of Asian photography while examining its past and present states. ‘Memories of the Future’, the theme of the Daegu Photo Biennale 2008, conveys a sense of past time, the attribute of photography as the ‘recorded trace,’ and the quality of continuous time through the properties of photography. In fact, the medium of photography holds the ambivalence of antinomy. Photography is the art of time that connotes the desire of fossilizing a moment, therefore making it a past event while constantly desiring to hold onto the moment for eternity. Capable of diversely expressing the time qualities of the past, present and future, the medium of photography has had its diversity and experimental quality highlighted through the digitalization of images. As such, photographic art, with its unique imaginative power and originality, is securing an independent position within contemporary art. In the middle of the digital era in which the gap with the public is minimized, the Daegu Photo Biennale 2008 will be a great festival of photographic art for communication and in-depth exchange with the public.