Biography:
Chanhee Kim(김찬í¬) is a photographer based in Seoul, South Korea. She mainly works on portrait and fashion photography, but her primary focus is to document the religious and cultural practices of people around the world through visual...
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Focus:Photographer, Photojournalist, Filmmaker, Journalist, Editor, Director, Writer, Videographer, Politics, Travel, Video Editor, Fine Art, History, Documentary, News, Creative Director, Photography, Portraiture, Art, Culture, Director of Photography, International News, Arts & Culture, Freelance, Commercial, Cinematography, Human Rights, International, Artist, Multimedia Journalist, Photo Shoots, Social Media Manager, Translator
While walking along a beach Chennai, India, I happened upon a crowd gathered around a bonfire in a temple on the cusp of the beach. There were people adorned with colourful garments, exotic flower arrangements and musicians playing an assortment of instruments that I had never seen before. Creating an atmosphere of mysticism were two women carrying a shallow, crystal bowl that billowed smoke into the surrounding audience. As the smoke reached me, an over-powering aroma of incense filled my lungs giving me an instant headache. After a few more breathes, I felt a slight dizziness spread over me making me suspect some kind of narcotic was laced in with whatever unknown incense they were burning. A seemingly ordinary woman, with unconventional unkempt hair, stepped forward and placed her face in the smoke breathing deeply. What felt like ages - though was probably just one minute - of inhaling smoke, her body started to sway back and forth, head tilted back and arms pinned to her side as an open gesture to invite an entity from the supernatural. Suddenly, her body began to tremble, and she started dancing erratically as if entranced. She began pulling faces whilst the rest of the crowd watched on. I tried asking a few people in the crowd about the meaning of this ceremony, but no one could explain it to me in English. Amongst their futile attempts to educate me, two names stood out in their descriptions: Murugan and Kartikeya, the names of one of their gods, the god of war and victory.
