When I attended Fotofest in Houston last year, Chan-Hyo Bae’s work was much discussed by the reviewers. Recently exhibited at the Photographic Center Northwest in Seattle, this South Korean born photographer explores his dual life as a Korean living in England.

“In the series, Existing in Costume, Chan-Hyo Bae has chosen the iconography of queenliness to express his feelings as an Asian immigrant. He dresses in period costumes and photographs himself as unidentified members of English aristocracy from the 13th to 19th centuries (all the works are untitled). His self-portraits mimic women monarchs only and are an examination of gender, power, race, and class. Living and working in London since 2004, Bae’s large format color prints reflect feelings of cultural estrangement and reveal a fantasized character that would be accepted and honored.”