A lifelong project photographing “Vanishing Soap”

In a world where nothing can be restored, all matter is destined to wear away its own existence without exception. Architecture, human beings, books, tools, even white porcelain—none can escape the irreversible passage of time. Soap, which diminishes with use, becomes scarred, and ultimately dissolves into foam, embodies these traces of time itself.

Photographer Koo Bohnchang has collected soaps from around the world, used them in his daily life, and continued to photograph their fading forms. This volume is a special edition drawn from his lifelong project, featuring a newly selected group of 40 works, including previously unpublished photographs made over the past few years.

The title of the book is echo . It is a limited edition of 100 copies. The images are printed on soft, slightly translucent wax paper reminiscent of the pharmaceutical wrapping once used to cover soap. Each copy is carefully bound by bookbinder Akie Tsuzuki using the traditional reppōsō (accordion-fold) method.

Koo Bohnchang

Born in 1953 in Seoul, South Korea, Koo Bohnchang studied business administration at Yonsei University before moving to Germany, where he studied photography at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg. Since returning to Korea in 1985, he has been a leading figure in the Korean photography scene as both an artist and an exhibition curator. His simple, minimalist photographic language has established a distinctive presence within Korea’s contemporary art landscape.
In 2025, he became the first photographer to receive the Samsung Ho-Am Prize. His work gathers the subtle narratives embedded within objects such as white porcelain, masks, soap, and antique tools, focusing on the faint traces of time they hold.
His publications include White Vessel (Yido, 2015), The Everyday Treasures (BONBOOK, 2023), among many others.