초심 <cho shim> literally translates to original intention.  It’s a word in Korean Zen that refers to Beginners Mind. Where all things are possible as no rules have been learned which cloud the mind.

Years of study and emulation of the masters of photography had led me to become lost.

I didn’t have my own voice.

Looking over an archive of a decade of abandoned projects showed nothing that looked or felt like me.

Until I found an old hard drive of images shot on my first cheapo digital camera when I lived in Seoul, and I was shocked to see images that looked and felt like me.

The work I had been really wanting to make was there all along. That when I knew nothing, the work was better than knowing all the tricks.

The images held a simple warmth and joy, and were made with what Zen Master Seung Sahn referred to as “Don’t Know Mind”

The following portfolio of images are a celebration of Don’t Know Mind, and I know deep down in my bones will serve as my guiding light, to simply be.

When slowing down and not filtering the world through endless analysis and comparison, the real magic of life makes itself clear.

Everything becomes a joy again.