Photographer · Cinematographer

Jo
Deok Rae

조덕래 · Mountains · Nature · Environment

01 — Biography

Jo Deok Rae is a photographer and cinematographer whose work follows mountain environments across Asia.

For more than a decade, he has returned to alpine landscapes in Korea, Japan and the Himalaya. Working in snow, wind, altitude and rapidly changing light, he approaches each journey as part of a longer record rather than an isolated destination.

His practice moves between still photography, documentary cinematography and field observation. The resulting work considers not only the scale of a landscape, but also the tools, decisions and periods of waiting that shape how it can be recorded.

02 — Practice

Working
in the field.

01

Return

Revisiting the same terrain allows weather, season and memory to accumulate within the work.

02

Observe

The camera follows conditions rather than forcing a predetermined image onto the landscape.

03

Record

Photography and film become connected parts of a continuing environmental archive.

Jo Deok Rae checking a camera above cloud in Gurja
Camera position · Gurja Himal
Jo Deok Rae reviewing aerial footage beside a drone
Aerial cinematography · Gurja

03 — Field Regions

KR

Korea

Mountain environments · Urban waterways

JP

Japan

Hakuba · Japan Northern Alps

NP

Nepal

Gurja Himal · Documentary field work

Gurja Himal at first light

04 — Selected Film Credit

TARA

Cinematography · Co-editor

A 17-minute documentary following astronomical photographer Kim Ki-hyun into the remote village of Gurja in the Nepal Himalaya.

Directors
Ji Woo-chul · Jo Deok-rae
Festival
10th Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival
Year
2025
View film project ↗

Current Direction

Continuing to document mountain landscapes, field practice and the quiet evidence of environmental change.

Get in touch →