Bourse du Talent 2026 : Daesung Lee

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“Mom, if reincarnation exists, what would you like to be in your next life?”
“No, I don’t want to be reborn.”

In the early 1970s, Korea was still deeply shaped by conservative Confucian values, and it was uncommon for women to pursue careers. Marriage and the role of homemaker were considered the norm.

At a time when three generations often lived under the same roof, my mother was expected to care not only for my grandparents, but also for my younger uncles and aunts, as well as my older sister and me, while carrying the full burden of household work.

Korean women of that generation silently endured the everyday discrimination and domestic violence embedded in society. They did not live for themselves, but as someone’s wife and someone’s mother.

In Buddhism, it is said that one can attain nirvana by freeing oneself from all karma and escaping the cycle of reincarnation. Growing up and witnessing my mother’s life, I sincerely wished that in another life she might live more happily—or perhaps attain nirvana itself.

This ongoing project tells the story of women’s struggles and resilience through personal memories rooted in the traditional Korean society of that era. These women were strong, full of humour, and never lost their optimism. Through this work, I have also sought to cast a positive light on their difficult lives.

He is a Korean photographer based in Paris. He began his career as a documentary photographer before gradually expanding his practice toward new approaches and forms of visual expression.
His two series focusing on climate change, On the Shore of a Vanishing Island and Futuristic Archaeology, have been published in numerous publications, including Le Monde, GEO, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post. His work has also been exhibited at major international photography festivals such as Cortona On The Move (Italy), La Gacilly Photo Festival (France), and Getxophoto (Spain).
In 2022, his series Parallel Universes was exhibited in Seoul as part of Saint Laurent’s Self#07 artistic project.
In 2023, Love Your Neighbours, a project exploring post-war trauma in Bosnian society, received the Bourse du Talent award.
Since 2024, he has been developing Nirvana, an ongoing series focusing on Korean women of his mother’s generation. The project received the LensCulture Portrait Awards 2025 and was presented at the Brussels Photo Festival in 2026.