This project explores true young culture and fashion at Tompkins Square Park located in New York City from

Jan 2023 to Jan 2024.

I took photographs and videos of the young generations who will lead the future of the United States, in Tomp-

kins Square Park in Manhattan, New York. I approached people that I was attracted by their fashion or culture.

My models are arranged from High School students, construction workers, vintage clothes sellers, and stu-

dents from nearby schools such as Parsons, FIT, SVA, and NYU.

Tompkins Square Park is a large distinctive park in East Village that has a full retro feeling to it. Various

sections create different moods: such as a vast skateboarding park, basketball place, dog park, and central

plaza. Unlike other big parks in Manhattan, there are almost no tourists at all and most people in the park are

nearby residents or young university students, which creates diverse cultures in a single park.

I was attracted by the park culture here, which I adapted myself right after I came here from South Korea. It

is unusual culture for most young Korean students to chili and work out at the park on a daily basis, especially

until high school. Due to Korea’s competitive educational system and lack of public parks, students normally

choose to go to internet cafes to play computer games together in their free time between academies after school.

As a fashion photographer, What also catches my mind is the fashion of young generations here. I believe

there are many young trendsetters whether they recognize it or not. They don’t care about others in their

fashion. They just wear what they want to wear. This makes their fashion a little bit chaotic. However, these

attempts sometimes make creative combinations that is hard to find in the major fashion industries and I’m

sure they are also paying attention. Also, they’re young and they have positive energy from it’s inside. This

energy mixes with their distinctive style. At some point, this makes them even more beautiful than major fash-

ion industry people with full of luxuries.