First edition of Longitude by Katherine Yungmee Kim. First impression. Medium format hardback in fine condition.

About

Longitude is comprised of short written pieces that range from a single sentence to several pages in length. Each chapter is part of a documentary narrative. It explores the plight of the modern Korean family, emigration, the political forces that drove such migratory patterns, and the larger international and personal implications of borders, civil conflicts, security, freedom and identity. The use of archival and snapshot images adds elements of history and nostalgia to emphasize the division of a nation and the resulting severance of families. It is a visual novel that incorporates text and archival and family photographs to trace a personal and political history of the Korean peninsula’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Based on research and interviews conducted over the years in the U.S. and Korea, the article won the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.