Haenyeo with big grins [PHOTOS]

Diving for family: A woman diver lugs a bag of shellfish she gathered from the seabed. She has shouldered the burden of being a breadwinner to support her family. Courtesy of Yang Jong-hoon

By Kang Hyun-kyung

"When you discover abalone while diving down into the sea, go for it. But if you see it while swimming up to the water's surface, don't even think about it."

This is a common safety tip among haenyeo, or the women divers of Jeju Island. Depending on each diver's capacity, these women hold their breath for a minute or so while gathering shellfish under the sea. Around the time they ascend to the water's surface, they have almost reached their physical limit. So if they are distracted by a small gain on their way to the surface, they could lose much more -- their life.

A woman diver swims up to the water's surface with an octopus in hand. Courtesy of Yang Jong-hoon

Each time they descend beneath the waves, they risk their lives.

This potentially fatal nature of their profession makes the haenyeo stay alert at all times while working. They rarely open their hearts to strangers. A haenyeo with a big smile on her face is a rare scene to see in real life or a photograph.

Documentary photographer Yang Jong-hoon's images of haenyeo are rare, partly because he captured these women with innocent smiles.

Courtesy of Yang Jong-hoon

His photography received attention as this year marks the fifth anniversary of the haenyeo being inscribed on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list.

The haenyeo, who juggle two to three other jobs in order to make a living, feel at home when they work with the Jeju-born photographer. They are not distracted by his camera, and simply go about their job as if nobody's watching.

Courtesy of Yang Jong-hoon

As a Jeju native, Yang came to develop his own skills to make the women feel at home during his photo shoots. Before taking photographs, he converses with the women using in the Jeju dialect. He wants to fathom what's deep in their hearts. The women gradually open up to the photographer, greeting him and asking if there's anything they can do for him.

The haenyeo are women who while keeping up their tough exterior still hold soft hearts on the inside.

Haenyeo Kang Myung-soon poses on horseback. Kang, who began horseback riding in her childhood, says she enjoys interacting with horses. Courtesy of Yang Jong-hoon

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