46 Photo Essay
The Bamboo Cathedral
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
January 2022
CULTURE & ARTS
By Isaiah Winters
A
esthetically pleasing churches are among the rarest structures to find abandoned. Churchgoers tend to be older, conservative, and tenacious, so it usually takes an extended period of die-offs and depopulation for a rural house of God to shutter and fall into disrepair. In all my years of providing the Korean public with unsolicited appraisals, I can recall only a handful of churches I’d call quasicharming. This year’s first photo essay features one of these rarities: the bamboo cathedral. After a long winter hike in Gokseong-gun, I spotted this church on the drive home just before sunset and nearly salivated upon arrival. Entombed in towering bamboo, the external structure gave off a dignified, almost elegant ambiance. By contrast, the inside was dark, drab, and dilapidated. I found an unsecured crucifix on stage and hurriedly used it as a photo prop before daylight faded. This delayed my discovery of a bevy of printed materials in a backroom, which will have to remain unread until I return. In the meantime, I wonder when architectural troves such as this church will finally get “discovered” as cool and turned into overpriced café-bakeries.
The Author
Born and raised in Chino, California, Isaiah Winters is a pixel-stained wretch who loves writing about Gwangju and Honam, warts and all. He particularly likes doing unsolicited appraisals of abandoned Korean properties. You can find much of his photography on @d.p.r.kwangju.
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