11/11/2023
We are born lonely. Lovers, friends, and family will eventually pass away and leave us, but dolls never will.
I was shocked when a collection of photos of Eva shot by a South Korean artist June Korea popped up. Eva is a silicone doll, his fantasy girlfriend. They slept together, went shopping together, went picnicking together, just like a real couple. These photos are not pornographic, but there is an indescribable sense of loneliness.
Here’s what he said:
I have been shooting s*x dolls since 2002 because of the loneliness.
I don’t lack socializing. But when I wake up alone, go home alone after parties and work, or stand in a crowd, I feel lonely.
When I was a child, I naively assumed that my family and friends would never leave me, and that my fond memories would never fade away. But I found out that over time, I lost them anyway.
While studying art in New York, I experienced breaking up with my girlfriend at the time. At that time, I had the idea of taking Eva as my fantasy girlfriend and photographing her. People will leave, but the doll will not die. If I record all this in the fantasy world, it will become eternal.
I intensively photographed Eva for 2 years. I spend almost every day with her. We slept, went shopping, and had a picnic together. We laughed and cried together. We felt happy or lonely together.
Passersby would stare at us strangely, and someone would come and touch Eva, but I didn’t care. I knew that this relationship was not real. The loneliness of being human had always been a reality that I could not get rid of. However, if you need, the doll will stay with you forever and never die.