Seoul Days & Nights by photographers James Choi, Kim Sangjun (Bigg Jun), and Sam Landers, captures the ever-evolving city of Seoul. From Gyeongbokgung Palace to Namdaemun Market to the vibrant café culture, Seoul is a city where tradition and modern life coexist.

Edited by Jihyun Kim, a Korean native living in Chicago, the book is as much about a personal relationship with a city as it is about the city itself. Her letter from the editor, which opens the book, shares more about the photographers and is the best answer we have to the question we keep getting asked: Why Seoul, why now? 

A letter from the editor — Jihyun Kim

Seoul is a city defined by constant change. Construction, redevelopment, and shifting neighborhoods shape its landscape, while long-standing traditions and daily routines maintain continuity in a city more than 2,000 years old. The scale can be demanding, yet its public transit, commercial corridors, and established residential districts keep daily life moving in a steady, organized way. Within this environment, the city reveals itself through ordinary scenes: commutes, evening gatherings, and everyday exchanges that define life in a large, modern capital.

 

Seoul Days & Nights brings together photographs taken over a ten year period by Sangjun Kim, James Choi, and Sam Landers. Though their backgrounds differ, each approaches the city with an interest in how Seoul balances rapid development with a sense of permanence.

 

Sangjun Kim worked for a decade as a mechanical engineer at Hyundai, photographing products alongside his full-time engineering role before moving into photography full-time in 2024. His perspective reflects both a technical understanding of the city’s built environment and a desire to show Seoul to viewers beyond Korea. As he notes, “In Seoul, the past and present coexist. You can frame older places like Gyeongbokgung or Deoksugung against modern skyscrapers and see both histories in a single image.”

 

James choi, a Korean filmmaker based in Chicago, returned to Seoul in 2024 for the first time since emigrating in 1974. During a six-month sabbatical, he photographed daily while working on a film, reconnecting with a city that had changed significantly since his childhood.

 

Korean-born Sam Landers, publisher at Trope, has photographed Seoul during multiple extended visits since 2016. His approach is largely observational, shaped by a street photographer’s interest in ordinary details and the quiet movements that define daily life in the city.

 

Joe McPherson, a Seoul-based food and travel writer, moved to the city in 2004, inspired by his interest in Korean history. His ongoing indepth exploration has led to a focus on Seoul’s food culture as the creator of Korea’s first food blog, ZenKimchi.

 

Global interest in South Korea continues to expand. Film, streaming content, and music have introduced international audiences to contemporary Korean culture, but these exports capture only part of Seoul’s appeal. When James Choi returned after four decades, he described the city as “An atmosphere–electric, a mix of contradictions that somehow made sense.” His observation reflects what the photographers captured: a place where change is constant. As new construction rises beside older districts, a connection to the past remains.

 

Seoul offers a wide range of material for photographers: dense commercial areas, quieter residential streets, and landmarks that signify the history of this metropolis. Much of Seoul Days & Nights focuses on these quiet, in-between scenes, while also including large-scale views–particularly Sangjun Kim’s images taken from above–that show the scale and complexity of the city. Together, these perspectives create a portrait of Seoul as it is lived in rather than staged.

 

Seoul holds many qualities at once–organized yet unpredictable, modern yet shaped by tradition, fast-moving but grounded in routine. Through these images, readers can experience the city as the photographers encountered it: evolving, layered, and defined as much by everyday moments as by its continued growth.

Pre-order your copy of Seoul Days & Nights today. Available in stores June 23rd.