Photographer - Brenda Paik Sunoo
Jeju Grannies of the
Sea
Jeju Island, Korea
- 2009
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Jeju Grannies of the Sea
Jeju
Island, Korea
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The women divers of Jeju
Island (known as haenyeo) are unique and rare workers. For
centuries, they have harvested seaweed and shellfish at depths of 20 meters,
holding their breath for as long as two minutes without any equipment other
than their rubber suits, masks and nets. The Korean women divers of Jeju
Island have faced the tempestuous
tides of history and struggle for economic survival. Their intimate
relationship to the land and sea, their shaman beliefs, and their communal
village life have kept them protected from modern pressures. In return, many of
the haenyeo live a life
of purpose and resilience well into their 90s. They illuminate a steady,
fearless course and most of all, an enduring legacy.
Brenda Paik Sunoo is a
third-generation Korean-American writer and photojournalist based in Orange
County, California. She and her
husband lived and worked in Hanoi, Vietnam
from 2002 to 2009. During that period, she also spent 7 months living on Jeju
Island in order to conduct
interviews and photograph the lives of these aging women divers known as
haenyeo. Her book Moon Tides: Jeju Island Grannies of the Sea will be published
by Seoul Selection this Fall. Other books by the author/photojournalist are
Seaweed and Shamans: Inheriting the Gifts of Grief and Vietnam Moment.