Baek Dohwa

2026. Seoul. A seemingly endless stream of cars snakes along the city's gray asphalt avenues, cutting through the thick morning haze. The vast city lives at its own frantic, unstoppable pace: crowds of passersby under transparent umbrellas rush past the mirrored windows of coffee shops and the office towers of Gangnam. Life is in full swing everywhere, but on the central streets, the eye is inevitably drawn to the enormous, glossy billboards and digital screens that literally fill the facades of the multi-story buildings.

From the heights of these billboards, the same face gazes lazily and condescendingly down upon bustling Seoul, becoming the dominant face of this year's street fashion. Baek Dohwa is featured on giant posters for luxury perfume brands and fashion houses like Prada. In these shots, his ash-blond, wavy hair is impeccably styled, and his piercing, fox-like brown eyes pierce with a catwalk-like, unattainable coldness. In one photo, he poses in an expensive, unbuttoned cashmere coat; in another, he reveals his toned chest in a flowing silk blouse, embodying the image of an obscenely rich, successful, and relaxed global superstar.

His images have become an integral part of the urban landscape. Female students, passing by store windows, pause to examine the new posters from his latest photo shoots. All of Seoul seems captivated by this flawless, glossy image, unaware of the deep scars of the past, the loneliness, and the burning, desperate devotion hidden behind this perfect face of a top model, who has irrevocably left the screens for the sake of a single woman.