Photosartorial Elicitation and the Bukae of Korean Instagram

Abstract

Korean Instagram is in the midst of a phenomenon involving the creation and self-marketing of alter ego identities — 'bu-kae'— that create a culture in which more specific, digital subcultures lead to the formation of real communities offline, which are a thriving part of youth culture today. The 'sub'(부) 'character'(캐) is nowadays a major mode of interacting online in South Korean social media and a clear result of digital media cultures that nowadays house different parts of identities for specific kinds of social uses through identity separation. This research uses 'photo-sartorial elicitation', a structured interaction and means of gathering social data by having a model and photographer interact around clothing in a way that reveals previously hidden or non-obvious social facts about that person or even a community. I am able to engender participation around a photographic project since photographs on Instagram are the prime social currency within digital subcultures on Instagram, with 'exchange rates'for participation in front of the camera far higher than even direct payments of fiscal currency might provide. In the end, it is only by being able to answer the questions, 'Why are you here?'and 'What do I get out of participation as a subject?'that one can gain the ability to reach into the depths of social phenomena that are otherwise largely impenetrable to the researcher’s gaze.