(LEAD) Photographer Kim Jung-man dies at age 68

▲ A photo of photographer Kim Jung-man, provided by Studio Velvet Underground (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ Kim Jung-man, one of South Korea's celebrated photographers, is seen in this file photo taken on Jan. 19, 2022. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) photographer-death

(LEAD) Photographer Kim Jung-man dies at age 68

(ATTN: UPDATES with more info in paras 4-5)

SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Yonhap) -- Kim Jung-man, one of South Korea's most famous commercial photographers, died Saturday at the age of 68 while fighting pneumonia, according to his family.

Kim had a reputation for his fashion photography after majoring in western painting at the National School of Fine Arts at the Villa Arson in Nice, France.

He garnered attention after he won the Young Artist Award at the Arles International Photography Festival, the world's premier festival in photography, in 1977.

In the same year, he was also selected as the youngest exhibitor in "Photo of the Day" in France.

Kim returned to South Korea in 1979 after working as a freelancer for French fashion magazines. In Seoul he took fashion photos of top-class celebrities and created posters of hit movies, including "The Host" (2006), directed by Academy Award-winner Bong Joon-ho, and "Tazza: The High Rollers" (2006).

He also won numerous awards in photography at home and abroad in the 2000s.

The celebrated photographer stopped taking commercial pictures in 2006 and had since focused on capturing the beauty of the nature of South Korea, such as the easternmost islets of Dokdo, through his camera.

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