ARGUS PAUL
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        • Reflections Inside The Seoul Metro
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        • I AM NOT A VIRUS
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  • Articles / Interviews / Features
    • LENSCRATCH | Argus Paul Estabrook: Half Eye, Half I
    • UP Photographers | Interview with Argus Paul Estabrook
    • Life Framer Journal | Looking Out and In With ARGUS PAUL ESTABROOK
    • LensCulture Street Photography Awards 2021 | Reflections Inside the Seoul Metro
    • ‘What life is about’: LensCulture street photography awards – in pictures
    • New narratives: BJP International Photography 2021 Award Winners revealed
    • The Phoblographer | Argus Estabrook Finds Stories Worth Telling by Using Intimacy
    • The Magnum and LensCulture Photography Awards 2017 Winners
    • The Magnum and LensCulture Photography Awards 2017 | Losing Face: Inside the Fall of South Korea’s President
    • Musée Magazine | Weekend Portfolio: Argus Paul Estabrook
    • 2018 Critical Mass Top 50
    • 2017 Critical Mass Top 50
    • PDN Emerging Photographer | Vol. 10, No. 1
    • CRITIC’S VIEW: Politics, Strangers & Art Not to Miss at Spring/Break 2018
  • Contact
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  • Photography
    • New >
      • Fare Adjustment
    • Ongoing >
      • How to Draw a Line
    • Past Work >
      • 2021 >
        • Reflections Inside The Seoul Metro
      • 2020 >
        • I AM NOT A VIRUS
      • 2019 >
        • Stage Left
      • 2018 >
        • This Is Not an Exit
      • 2017 >
        • Losing Face
        • Heartfelt Welcome
        • School Memories: The Loss in Danwon High
      • 2016 >
        • Wrestling In The Streets Of Seoul
  • Articles / Interviews / Features
    • LENSCRATCH | Argus Paul Estabrook: Half Eye, Half I
    • UP Photographers | Interview with Argus Paul Estabrook
    • Life Framer Journal | Looking Out and In With ARGUS PAUL ESTABROOK
    • LensCulture Street Photography Awards 2021 | Reflections Inside the Seoul Metro
    • ‘What life is about’: LensCulture street photography awards – in pictures
    • New narratives: BJP International Photography 2021 Award Winners revealed
    • The Phoblographer | Argus Estabrook Finds Stories Worth Telling by Using Intimacy
    • The Magnum and LensCulture Photography Awards 2017 Winners
    • The Magnum and LensCulture Photography Awards 2017 | Losing Face: Inside the Fall of South Korea’s President
    • Musée Magazine | Weekend Portfolio: Argus Paul Estabrook
    • 2018 Critical Mass Top 50
    • 2017 Critical Mass Top 50
    • PDN Emerging Photographer | Vol. 10, No. 1
    • CRITIC’S VIEW: Politics, Strangers & Art Not to Miss at Spring/Break 2018
  • Contact
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ARGUS PAUL

War Drums and Ballet:
How Hate Is Taught In South Korea


They bang on war drums with the word ‘homosexual’. To promote traditional beauty, ballet is performed in the street. This happens every year at the annual Pride Festival in Seoul. While most come to the Pride Festival to celebrate a colorful vibrancy, extremists dressed in simple white dresses or monochromatic suits stand in contrast and opposition, using the event to warn about the sin of homosexuality. Small children -- too young to understand the chaos -- get lost in the crowd. Others join in, relying on cues from elders. Exhausted extremists collapse, as organizers continue to chant, “Homosexuals destroy our country!” This is how hate is taught in South Korea.​

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A police officer tries to calm down a protester as he expresses threatening rhetoric towards the LGBT side of the police barricade.
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Overwhelmed by the noise, a child cries and calls out to his mother. He is ignored while she and the other protesters continue drumming.
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A drum leader sets the example for the other protesters to follow, as they get closer to the steps of City Hall.
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With one hand carrying a cross and the other raised out, a protester displays his religious opposition towards the Korean LGBT community.
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As her music plays live on the loud speakers, a gayageum player becomes further enthralled in her performance. The young girl behind her holds a sign that says, “Get Out Homosexuals.”
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Young women perform “protest” ballet as police officers block street access.
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Behind a row of impassioned speakers, a young flag waver suddenly lays on her knees.