1990s Ulju Bangudae Petroglyphs Seen Through Digital Photography

by Lee Jonggil

Published 19 Jun.2024 09:24(KST)

Senior Scholar Kang Woobang, Photographer Late Han Seokhong Donated

The National Heritage Agency's National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage announced on the 19th that it will make 108 photos of the ‘Ulsu Daegok-ri Bangudae Petroglyphs’ and 295 photos of the ‘Gyeongju Seokguram Grotto’ available on its website for public use.

1990s Ulju Bangudae Petroglyphs Seen Through Digital Photography

The former were donated by senior scholar Kang Woobang, and the latter by the late national heritage photographer Han Seokhong. In 2019, they transferred approximately 60,000 and 1,171 personal collection records, respectively. These include various photos and films taken for personal research, as well as catalogs from famous overseas exhibitions. The institute had previously converted sixty-nine photos of the ‘Gyeongju Seokguram Grotto’ into high-resolution digital format and released them in 2021. The cumulative number of downloads for these materials has exceeded 30,000.

The materials released this time underwent high-resolution digitization by the Korea Cultural Information Service and expert correction and restoration. The photos of the ‘Ulsu Daegok-ri Bangudae Petroglyphs’ were taken in the 1990s, vividly showing the petroglyph site at that time. The photos of the ‘Gyeongju Seokguram Grotto’ capture detailed images of the principal Buddha statue and various sculptures.

An institute official explained, “We are releasing both the color and black-and-white versions of the photos included in the 2021 catalog ‘Seokguram, The Photos,’ along with additional corrected versions, which will greatly aid academic research.” They added, “According to the ‘Public Works Free Use Policy,’ these materials are classified under Public Nuri Type 1 (Public Works Free Use Permission Standard), allowing anyone to freely use them without separate permission.”