Jean Chung, Biography

Jean Chung was born and raised in Seoul, Korea. She graduated from Seoul National University in 1993. Afterward, she moved to the United States to pursue a career in photography. She went on to obtain a bachelor degree in photography from New York Universityšs Tisch School of the Arts in 1995.

At Tisch, Jean studied photojournalism. In the process, she pursued her love for documentary photography. Some of her projects include Asians in America (1994), The Journey with the Yeh-Yu Chinese Opera (1995), most recently The Search for an Identity : The Korean Adoptees Išve Met (1999), and The Brides Series(1999).

Presently, Jean works for The Korea Times in New York. It is the largest Korean daily newspaper in the United States. As a full-time reporter/photographer, she has written numerous stories about Asians in the tri-state area. Jean is most interested in the multi and inter-cultural aspects of Korean and other Asian communities. Her work focuses on how Asian Americans attempt to balance living in the American culture while maintaining their Asian identity.

This is reflected in her photographs that try to capture the Korean American experience in New York; and her work with young Korean-Americans and those Koreans who are adopted by non-Asian families.

Finally, Jean hopes that her work will help those outside the Korean community to better understand it.