Same Paper and KangHee Kim's latest book is a golden journey from dawn to dusk

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KangHee Kim is a photographer whose work keeps on giving. Over the years, she’s developed a style which is distinctly hers – one which sees sunsets, blue skies and palm trees superimposed to peek through the windows, or over the shoulders of passers-by, in the most mundane of scenes. Back in September of 2016, Shanghai-based publisher Same Paper collaborated with KangHee on her first book titled Magic and, now, nearly three years later, they’ve released Golden Hour, a publication which reflects the growth of the photographer and her work.

“We have always been in contact with KangHee and we know about her Visa restrictions,” explains Same Paper. Originally from Korea, KangHee is based in New York and has been unable to travel abroad for several years. “We feel for her and know that she is frustrated about the current situation,” Same Paper adds. While discussing this situation with KangHee the publishers also noticed how her work began to reflect her feelings: “The dusk, the clouds and the girl looking out of the window of a plane. The images were truly romantic and filled with subtle nostalgia and homesickness.”

Having noticed this shift in her work, Same Paper approached KangHee to make a second book. The result is Golden Hour. “After we decided to make the book, we went through KangHee’s recent works, and we were attracted by the new colour tone and skills she’s been using,” the publisher recalls. Throughout the book, this new palette is given full focus, down to the book’s cover and endpapers – a vivid orange, and gradient of orange to yellow respectively.

More than simply a comment on new aesthetics, however, Golden Hour is a representation of artistic maturation. When working on Magic, their previous release, KangHee’s work was “dreamy and fresh,” and so Same Paper created “a small book with a light cover design to respond to this feeling”. As KangHee has received much more attention globally as well as curating her work to become more implicit in the resulting years, Same Paper has now produced a “rather classic feeling”, hardback book.

Golden Hour also aligns itself with a traditional photo book in its design, with images always presented on the right-hand side of spreads. “KangHee creates surprises in every image she makes, so we wanted to keep a rhythm by not composing any images. In this book, we wanted to create a journey throughout a day,” Same Paper continues, “just as the title is Golden Hour, the reader can experience this journey from dawn to nightfall by reading through the book.”