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www.groovekorea.com / January 2014 80 MUsIC & ARTs Edited by Emilee Jennings (emilee@groovekorea.com) Fermented photoGraphy lee smathers brinGs Film neGatives to liFe Story by Bri Altier Photos courtesy of Lee Smathers W hile attending college in 1997, Lee Sma- thers went to a birthday ceremony at a Korean-American church whose members were focused on cultivating cultural interest within their younger members. It was here that Smathers began his love affair with Korean culture. He has a hard time deciding if it was the fan dances, the han- bok or the bulgogi that won Smathers over, but he was hooked. Over the next three years, he spent a great deal of time at the church creating photo jour- nals. One day, a friend at the church said, “Lee, if you want to learn about Korea, you need to go to Korea.” Smathers is a photographer, professor and Korean culture enthusiast with a passion for mixing the old with the new. He grew up in the United States with a father who molded pottery and a mother who created textiles and crafts. With so much creativity surround- ing his upbringing, it is no surprise that he and his two siblings all became artists in their own regard. In 2000, Smathers coordinated an independent studies course with his master’s program which gave him the opportunity to study in Korea. He spent a mere three months in the country, but became com- pletely enamored: “I was just so attracted to Korea that I really didn’t want to go back to the States. So I knew that once I finished my master’s work in pho- tography that I was going to come back over.” He returned to the U.S. to complete his degree and then came back to Korea one month after his gradu- ation — this time not as a student, but as a teacher. After 10 years of working in Korea, Lee secured a full-time photography professorship at Keimyung University in Daegu, where he is currently employed. At Keimyung, Lee teaches his classes with a lit- tle extra flair. On the first day of his black-and-white photography course, Lee gives his students a roll of