Hanok house – Leica M film

I was born and raised in Seoul but I know nothing about Seoul. When I was young, I didn’t like city life. For some reason, I appreciate quiet slow life more than fast speed noisy city life. I still do. But the difference between back then and now is I can appreciate Seoul. I sort of found the beauty of the city where I live. There are a lot of aspects I like about Seoul now. First of all, I like a night view in Han River. Han River is a huge river that separates north and south of Seoul city. As it is in the middle of Seoul, you can view pretty much heart of Seoul city. Also, there are a lot of pretty bridges with shiny illuminations. It’s easy to take a shot that has a beautiful bokeh component in the photo.

Secondly, Seoul city still has several places where you can see old stuff right next to modern buildings. Such as a palace which is more than 600 years old or a very old house with modern interior while it kept old exterior as it is. We call this traditional house as “Hanok” house.

I had the opportunity of staying at one of the very old Hanok houses a few weeks ago. I always wanted to stay at Hanok house but I had no connections. Then, one day, I found the Hanok house hotel. It’s basically similar to Air B&B who rent their own house except this Hanok place is purely for renting purpose. There are a few rooms with an individual toilet as opposed to a shared toilet. So you can have your own privacy just like a hotel.

I took this shot when I checked in and rested for a few hours then I saw this beautiful light coming from a room door (with awesome patterns) Luckily I took 24mm Leica Elmar lens with me. From that point and forward, I took a lot of photos inside and out. I couldn’t believe I discovered this fun until now. Now only Hanok house is beautiful but also it is located in the center of Seoul, so I was able to walk to most fun places without having to drive a car or take a taxi.

Around the Hanok house, there are more Hanok houses like a village. So it’s fun to watch all the difference Hanok houses in the neighborhood. If you ever plan to stay in Korea for pleasure, I’d like to recommend you with Hanok stay (not the guesthouse but more like Hanok hotel where you can have more privacy).

Here are some more photos of Hanok house and neighborhood places.

Here are more photos I took with Leica M7 with Portra 400 film.

Well, I am kind of waiting for every weekend to explorer new faces of Seoul.