"July is unusually full of solo shows. Faces gathered over twenty years, the terrain of the moon, a documentary photography award arriving in Gwangju. And beside them stand the big exhibitions that run through the whole summer."

If June was crowded with month-long group shows, July puts solo shows and award exhibitions up front, shows that take a long look at one person's time. Some run three weeks, others until next spring, and they all overlap in the same month. One last weekend decides July. We start with the shows that end within the month.

Three Closing in July

Poster for Kwak Myung-woo's 〈Photo Sea〉. Nine photographers in colorful hats and clothes sit side by side on a bench below a light cream wall, waving and smiling. Running vertically at the top is the name of the show in Korean, with 20th in blue.
Kwak Myung-woo, 〈Photo Sea: Twenty Years of Faces〉. SPACE 22 (Gangnam, Seoul), 7.2 – 7.22.

Kwak Myung-woo, 〈Photo Sea: Twenty Years of Faces〉 (사진바다: 스무 해의 얼굴들)
SPACE 22 (22F Mijin Plaza Building, 390 Gangnam-daero, Seoul). 7.2 – 7.22. Opening 7.4 (Sat) 4:00 PM. Mon–Sat 11:00 – 19:00 / closed Sundays and public holidays.
Faces he has set in front of the camera over twenty years. This solo show gathers more than two decades of seeking out people in one place. The people sitting side by side on the bench in the poster stand in for the faces of that time.

Poster for Choi Donghun's 〈Selenography〉. On a rough paper texture sit a white, glowing moon-like disc and fragments of terrain that look like aerial photographs. At the top, Selenography, and below it, Choi Donghun.
Choi Donghun, 〈Selenography〉. Gallery Toma (Daegu), 7.11 – 7.26.

Choi Donghun, 〈Selenography〉
Gallery Toma (Daegu). 7.11 – 7.26. Opening reception 7.11 (Sat).
The title comes from selenography, the study that maps the surface of the moon. The artist, who is also a reconstructive plastic surgeon, reads "surface" and "map" on top of each other. Lunar craters and skin, aerial photographs and the grain of tissue all become terrain in a single frame. Curated by Un.Charted Foundation.

Poster for the 2026 Onbit Photography Award category winners' exhibition. On a deep teal background, 2026 Onbit Photography Award in yellow lettering, and below it four winning works in a row: a black-and-white portrait, the shadow of a whale, an interior facing the sea and a street lined with bicycles.
2026 Onbit Photography Award, category winners' exhibition. Gallery Hyeyum (Gwangju), 7.14 – 7.26.

2026 Onbit Photography Award, Category Winners' Exhibition
Gallery Hyeyum (Gwangju). 7.14 – 7.26. Organized by ONBIT.
The show brings together this year's four category winners of the Onbit Photography Award, which has long stood by documentary photography: Kim Heung-gu, 〈Teumeong: Island, Stone, Face〉 (트멍: 섬, 돌, 얼굴) (Fujifilm Photography Award); Kim Da-min, 〈I AM YOU〉 (Sealy Photography Award); Lee Jong-su, 〈Landscapes of Absence〉 (부재의 풍경들) (Haewon Emerging Photographer Award); and Lee Myeong-geon, 〈By Bike〉 (Haewon University Student Photography Award). It is a touring show that began at Artspace Lumos in Daegu (6.10 – 6.27), moves through Hyeyum in Gwangju, and continues to Igong Gallery in Daejeon (9.8 – 9.21). This summer's stop is Gwangju.

Three Running Through Summer

Poster for Ralph Gibson's 〈French Allure〉. A close-up of the corner of a baroque frame with flaking gilt against deep wine-colored velvet. At the top, French Allure in white serif italics, and below it, Ralph Gibson.
Ralph Gibson, 〈French Allure〉. GoEun Gibson Museum of Photography (Busan), 6.17 – 2027.4.10.

Ralph Gibson, 〈French Allure〉
GoEun Gibson Museum of Photography (10 Jungdong 1-ro 37beon-gil, Haeundae-gu, Busan). 6.17 – 2027.4.10. Tue–Sun 10:00 – 18:00 / closed Mondays. Admission 3,000 won.
The opening exhibition of Korea's first permanent Ralph Gibson museum, in Haeundae, Busan. Timed to the 140th anniversary of Korea-France diplomatic relations, it gathers the work he made in France. The question is how a master of American photography turned French surfaces (velvet, gilt, shadow) into his own language. It is open until next spring, so it is worth adding to a summer trip to Busan.

Poster for 〈Martin Parr: We Are Martin Parr〉. Over Martin Parr's overhead photograph of a woman sunbathing in blue sunglasses, the words We Are Martin Parr and his name in Korean are printed repeatedly in red wavy type. At the top, the exhibition dates and the SeMA Museum of Photography logo.
Martin Parr, 〈We Are Martin Parr〉. SeMA Museum of Photography, 7.16 – 10.18. © SeMA Museum of Photography.

Martin Parr, 〈We Are Martin Parr〉
SeMA Museum of Photography (Seoul Museum of Art). 7.16 – 10.18. Free admission.
The Magnum photographer died last December. This is the first large-scale retrospective in Asia since his death. Some 500 works from his early black-and-white to his late color, 14 major series and the 89 photobooks he made over his lifetime are brought together in one place. Work he shot in North and South Korea in the early 2000s is also shown for the first time. Co-curated by Magnum Photos and the Martin Parr Foundation.

RELATED · Feature Martin Parr's First Retrospective Since His Death: 14 Series and 89 Photobooks The title, the scale, the main series, and the North and South Korea work from the early 2000s shown for the first time. We have a separate in-depth feature on this exhibition alone. →
Image from Kim Jeon-gi's 〈Figures of Memory〉. Under a cloudy sky, beside a dirt path at a tourist site, a Marilyn Monroe statue with a billowing skirt, a golden horse sculpture, a statue of a soldier in full gear and a Western-style flower planter stand together in a surreal landscape.
Kim Jeon-gi, 〈Figures of Memory〉. Gangneung Museum of Art, 7.22 – 8.4.

Kim Jeon-gi, 〈Figures of Memory〉 (기억의 형상들)
Gangneung Museum of Art. 7.22 – 8.4.
He follows the artificial sculptures put up at tourist sites: a Marilyn Monroe statue, a golden horse, a soldier. Figures made to imitate someone's memory sit out of place in real landscapes, and the result is a slightly lonely, unfamiliar "landscape of memory." It is only open through the first week of August, so it is best to catch it in July.

"In July, the last weekend is the busiest. Kwak Myung-woo's twenty years close on the 22nd, and on the 26th Choi Donghun's moon and the Gwangju stop of the Onbit Photography Award close on the same day. In between, on the 22nd, Kim Jeon-gi opens in Gangneung."

Summary

This list draws on the July curation by Instagram account @sajinyesul_photoart and the official channels of each museum and gallery. Dates follow the official channels. Please check opening hours and closing days before you go. If we confirm any changes, we will update this article.