Shot by Julia Sariy from Tiffany & Co.
Hello,
My name is Benjamin "Sunkyong" Kim or Kim-Sun-Kyong, and I'm a freelance photographer, visual artist, photo assistant, and digitech based in New York City. I was Korean but now, I'm American. I studied BFA Photography at the School of Visual Arts and graduated in 2018.
I was born in Tokyo, Japan, while my Korean parents were studying there. Due to my dad's job as a professor and scientist, we lived in many different locations but mainly within Seoul, South Korea, until we moved to Golden, Colorado, in 2008. In 2009, it was a turning point as we decided to live in NYC, and since then, I've been based in Queens, NY for more than 15 years. But I still consider South Korea as home.
Truth be told, my original aspiration was to become an entomologist, as I was eagerly interested in rhino and stag beetles which I'm still interested as a hobby. At that time, I got my first DSLR camera, a Pentax istDL*, to start taking pictures of insects. Perhaps it was an unexpected catalyst for becoming a photographer, and it was also unexpected to become an artist after I attended the School of Visual Arts. But I'm happy that I choose my own fate to move forward.
Currently, I'm focusing on digitech jobs in NYC and pursuing my own goals as a photographer and artist to become successful in NYC and beyond.
Thanks