"Who has the face of a king?” In the 2013 hit film "The Face Reader," set in the 15th century during the Joseon era, Grand Prince Suyang sought the advice of the most renowned face reader of the day about his potential to become king. The physiognomist thought Suyang had the face of a cruel and ruthless traitor but refrained from voicing this belief out of fear. Some years later, Suyang ascended .
The first time I heard of the term, “poverty porn,” was in late April 2019. I was doing a phone interview with photographer Cho Jang-sok, who was at that time preparing for a trip to Africa for his photo project. Speaking of poverty porn, Cho said he was sick of the practices non-profit groups had used to raise money for Africa, and said that Africa was misrepresented in such images. He was referring to aid groups typical fundraising campaigns on TV that feature images of malnourished children desperate for help with flies buzzing around their faces.