Waiting for the Light

Waiting for the Light by Ahlum Kim is a quiet and deeply intimate portrait series capturing young people encountered between Tokyo and Taipei. Suspended within moments that feel unresolved and in-between, the photographs observe solitude not as isolation, but as a fragile emotional state that slowly reveals itself through time, silence, and light. Rather than attempting to define or fully understand her subjects, Kim approaches portraiture with patience and restraint. She invites her subjects to perform being alone, waiting attentively for the brief moment when that performance dissolves into something more vulnerable and instinctive. It is within this subtle shift, when the subject quietly returns to themselves that the photographs emerge. The work carries a cinematic softness shaped by observation and emotional distance. Light becomes more than illumination; it functions as atmosphere, timing, and emotional threshold. Each image feels suspended between presence and disappearance, intimacy and unknowability. What makes Waiting for the Light especially compelling is its emotional honesty. Kim does not search for dramatic gestures or fixed identities, but instead embraces uncertainty, allowing portraits to remain open, unresolved, and deeply human. The result is a body of work that lingers gently, rewarding slow viewing and quiet attention. Born in Korea and based in Tokyo, Ahlum Kim began photographing seriously through the act of photographing a lover. Believing that human connection can soften anger and insecurity, her practice is rooted in observation, empathy, and the search for hidden narratives within people. Working primarily through portraiture, she approaches photography not as accumulation, but as a process of subtraction gradually revealing what matters most through light, presence, and encounter. +++ Language: English & Chinese Binding: Hardcover | 94 pages Book Size: 272 × 211 x 15mm | 615g Publication Year: November 2025 | Edition of 500 ISBN: 978-986-06217-4-7