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Horse pulling cart full of coal briquettes Tony DeMarco with village elder and kids Honeymooners Photo shoot at Hyopjae Beac h What was it like raising a family there? An almost impossible challenge. The first apartment JNU put us in had holes in the walls behind the cabinets. Rats would come in. But after a few weeks, we got a much bet- ter apartment from JNU, and we were the only Western family there. Mom got sick just after she came with you, from exhaustion, probably, and almost died when she got antibiotics she was allergic to. Your baby brother also got sick with really bad eczema, and the only Western medical help we could get was with the nuns at Hallim. You went back to Jeju a few years ago. How has it changed? I didn’t recognize it. I was stunned at the de- velopment, new architecture, new roads — a complete transformation. It had changed from a primitive backwater place to avoid, to a mod- ern and beautiful resort destination. How did you get into photography? Why did you shoot mostly slides? I always enjoyed taking pictures. During my army tour in ‘72-’73, we had a darkroom and lots of my buddies were into taking shots of Korea; it was a strange and beautiful place. We got into developing our own film, black and white, color … so we had a great little informal photo club. And for my National Geographic article, slides were the highest-quality image you could get. Was there anything in particular you were trying to capture with your camera? I knew Jeju was going to change forever. Dr. Koh told me about the billions of won that the government was going to pour into the island for development. Being “modern” was more important to them than preserving the unique culture of Jeju, and I knew a lot would be lost forever; I wanted to preserve a small slice with my shots. What did your friends and family say when you said you were moving to Jeju? They thought I was crazy. It devastated your mom that I would leave her with a little 5-year- old while expecting another baby. It caused a lot of pain for all of us, but I felt I had no other options. It seemed like a path was laid out for me to go back to Korea for lots of reasons, and I couldn’t get a job in the U.S. I’ll never forget the look in your eyes when I left you. How did the locals treat you? Some treated us really well and were sorry for the tough time we were having. Our friend Kyeong-hee was a godsend; she helped your mom so much with all the challenges. We made some Korean friends, but others looked at us like we were from Mars. There was only one other American on the island then, and only one other foreign family with kids. It’s cra- zy, but I think I’d do it again. 69