London-based Korean artist-photographer Mimi Youn was one of the winners of a Lens Culture/Rhubarb Photobook Award this year. Her work is fresh, naive (perhaps), and exploits the quirky characteristics of the (soon-to-be-extinct?) Polaroid materials.

When asked about her work, Mimi Youn explained things this way:

"I felt there were limitations to expressing my thoughts, emotions and ideas as typical “photographs". In my recent work, I use a Polaroid camera. After I take a picture, I cut text into the surface of the Polaroid. Most of the pictures I take look ambiguous and vague because of intentional overexposure; however, marks cut from the photographs look paradoxically strong and painful."

As an award winner, Mimi Youn will design and publish a new photobook. In the meantime, Lens Culture has a handful of hand-worked images that the jurors at Rhubarb-Rhubarb liked so much. You will also discover some more philosophical statements by the artist in the text that accompanies the photos.

Dazzling 1 © Mimi Youn

When I checked out her website, I was delighted to find this hilarious minimalist video. It reminds me of some of the best Jim Jarmusch moments.