Argus Paul Estabrook

2025 · series

A Sight More

SERIES IMAGE WINNER

I heard myself screaming, falling toward the earth. Suddenly, the roller coaster eased off, and I recognized the Seoul skyline. Fear gave way to joy while the wind streaked tears across my face. I was finally home! How was this possible? Then I woke up. It was the kind of dream that felt hopeful while in it, but a nightmare upon waking. Soon after, I came back to Korea to reclaim my past life. It had been four years. Stepping into my old haunts, I found they vibrated with a surreal intensity. The air swirled with ghost notes, casting never-ending crescendos. At times, it felt like my entire being was transposed into an invisible, whiplashing symphony. This time, the roller coaster wasn't a dream. It was an emotion. It was an awakening in my chest, pulsing in sync with the city. Together, we were alive. But what kind of life? As a Korean-American Gyopo, was I truly born between the cracks of shadows and storms I couldn\'t name? Was this confusion the only light through which I could see my authentic self? I returned home thinking it would be a sight for sore eyes. Instead, I found it a sight more than I remembered. A sight more than I was ready to confront. And a sight more of myself in the chaos than I am still ready to admit.

2025 · single_image

Where Do We

JURORS' PICKS

2023 · international

Fare Adjustment

INTERNATIONAL TEHRAN STREET PHOTO AWARDS FINALIST

2022 · series

Lost in Tokyo

SERIES WINNER

I approached the metro ticket booth. The agent motioned for my rail pass. But where was it? And for that matter, where was I? The answer escaped me. Instead, swirling in my mind was a void made in the wake of my father's recent passing. Light streaks traced over blurred recollections of abrupt travel to my family home. Deepening this emotional whiplash, I returned back to my apartment in Seoul only to learn my wife had been unfaithful. Wishing to escape the gravity of grief and infidelity, I booked a cheap ticket to Japan. But now there, I found escape was a fleeting specter like a spider web caught adrift in the wind to which I remained entangled. My life felt simultaneously in the air and weighed down by the turbulence of heartbreak. Reality returned to me as my fingers brushed over my rail pass card inside my camera bag. I slid it under the window and listened to the ticketing agent\'s voice echo through the intercom. "You need more for fare adjustment. One moment, please." While the agent made his calculations, my mind was left alone to wonder how much more the toll would be.

2020 · single_image

How to Draw a Line

FINALISTS