The visage of an idol is a commodity. Frozen in time, captured with a camera’s lens, the visage becomes an image subsequently reproduced in print or digital modes which makes it possible to spread the idol’s appearance. As a commodity, the visage as a raw material makes possible the production of material commodities, i.e. photobooks, photocards, and posters. Through human labor—the idol in front of the camera, the photographer behind the camera, the crew in charge with the makeup, styling, lighting, and concept and aesthetic of the shoot—the visage is transformed into an image, that is, a carefully crafted presentation of an attractive and familiar yet distant, or distant yet familiar, celebrity.
About visual
In K-pop, the industry and fans may categorize the members of an idol group into positions—leader, maknae (youngest), vocal, dancer, rapper, visual, face of the group, and center. When a K-pop fan says, “He’s the visual of the group,” or “She’s the best visual indeed!” and you happen to hear it, you might wonder what they mean. Simply put, a visual idol typically possesses features that are attractive, interesting, and/or unique, such that they might often feature in the center of group pictures, in commercials and variety shows, and their features are praised, pointed out and marveled by other celebrities. The website KProfiles, a curation of known basic information about K-pop groups and members, describes the visual as “the member considered the most physically attractive in the group (according to the Korean beauty standards).” Unlike the other positions, which rely on age (maknae, leader), abilities and talents (dancer, rapper, vocalist), and appointment/assignment (leader, face of the group, center), identifying a group’s visual relies on subjective criteria. It is possible then for there to be more than one visual in a group; for example, there are four visuals in SEVENTEEN according to the website though, of course, I think they’re all handsome in their own right. They’re all visuals, and like so, subjective.
But the words “according to the Korean beauty standards” in parentheses belies this ‘subjective-ness’ by referring to such a set of standards. It is vague what this means, but one could suppose that it includes fair/pale skin, double eyelids, a small face with delicate features, and clear skin. That being said, all K-pop idols possess a visage, which refers to their overall facial features and characteristics, and the sum of their overall attractiveness. If we consider the definition “most physically attractive,” then a visual idol must possess the best visage in a group. However, it isn’t only visual members who must transform their visage into product. All members of a group work together on photoshoots, be it for a new album, a magazine, or promotions. Their visage is an essential part of their job, always available in new album releases, never to be caught at its worst. One will be hard-pressed to find a K-pop album without the idols’ visage included in it.
As such, the visage is transformed into an image. The image is a product composed of the idol’s visage modified according to a concept/theme. These modifications—styling of the idols’ visage (and body) according to a concept, from the make-up, clothes, accessories, to the expressions and poses—produce the overall ‘feel’ of the produced image. Or, borrowing Walter Benjamin’s (1935) term, the aura emanating from the idol, that important quality that cannot be communicated through mechanical reproduction.
Last year, SEVENTEEN released a repackage of their third full album, Sector 17, with two concepts, and therefore two different images for each idol’s visage. The third full album, Face the Sun, meanwhile, has five different concepts. For illustration purposes, see below the concept photos of Vernon1, produced from the same visage but with different modifications, all taken from the SEVENTEEN website.
SECTOR 17 concept photos (NEW BEGINNING ver. and NEW HEIGHTS ver.)
Face The Sun concept photos (ep.1 Control ver., ep.2 Shadow ver., ep.3 Ray ver., ep.4 Path ver., ep.5 Pioneer ver.)
About distance
It appears that a particular image may be classified into two according to the distance between the image’s subject and the audience. To visualize, let us look at the three images below of the same idol, Hoshi2 of SEVENTEEN.
In the first image, we see a selfie (or ‘selca’ for ‘self-camera’ in Korea). Selfies became a hype in the early 2010’s with the modern cell phone redesigned to have a front camera along with the back one. Through this technological advancement(?), selfies became a popular way of taking pictures of oneself, like a self-portrait. K-pop idols take many selcas and post them on their socials, as a way to connect with their audience, to update them about a schedule, to give them behind-the-scenes during a comeback promotion. This selca of Hoshi was posted on Weverse, a web platform for artist-fan communication. Through these selcas, the distance between idol and fan is lessened. This closer distance invokes a familiarity, which is characterized by a perceived intimacy between the image and the fan, thus the emoji on the picture. We see the full visage of Hoshi at a closer distance, and this image is something that might suggest a more intimate relationship with the audience.
Meanwhile, the second image is a professional shot taken by a photographer paid for their photography skills and ‘good eye’. This type of image emphasizes the distance between the audience and the visage, and at times increases this distance. The photographer puts the idol on a figurative pedestal, and elevates them to the status of a demigod: attractive, remote, unreachable. In this particular image of Hoshi, a page from Cosmopolitan Korea magazine scanned by moeum_zip on Twitter, we see Hoshi in a black latex blazer without a shirt underneath, exposing part of his upper torso. He stares brazenly through the camera, regarding the audience. We see the wholeness of his visage and his stature. Comparing the first two images, the intimacy of the selca contrasts with the remoteness of the magazine shot, and the relationship between idol and fan changes.
There is a midpoint. In the third image, which is a behind-the-scene of the Cosmopolitan shoot posted by Hoshi on his Instagram (ho5hi_kwon), Hoshi is neither near nor too far from his fan. This type of image maintains the “appropriate” or “normal” distance between idol and fan, and I think that most images of idols belong to this category. This type will also include images taken by fans during concerts and fan meetings, such as the pictures below that I took when I attended the Manila and Bulacan legs of SEVENTEEN’s Be The Sun world tour. (Low-key an excuse to share the experience too. I’ll get a seat closer to the stage next time! Hopefully!)
The difference between these three types of images lies in the distance perceived between fan and idol. In the first type, the distance is closer because the idol allows the fan to see them closer through the selca, while in the second type the distance is greater because the idol’s visage is conceptually and professionally modified, thus enhancing their attractiveness. Finally, the third image exhibits that distance between idol and fan that would be considered normal, maintaining the place of the idol as subject(/object?) of interest and the fan as audience and consumer.
As with any categorizations in popular culture, there is no black and white between these images and no defined delineations between them. Some of them may overlap, thus creating more complicated distances between fan and idol. For example, during some concerts, fans who run fansites bring cameras with high zoom and high quality lenses to take pictures of idols when performing. While they are fans who take pictures of their idols, the pictures they capture exhibit a greater distance between idol and fan if the idol is on an official schedule, such as a concert or a press conference, because the fan still looks up at their idol onstage. However, if the fansite manager takes pictures of an idol at the airport or out in public, it shortens the distance between idol and fan by showing (or intruding on) the (supposedly) private lives of the idol, even if their schedule is known to the fans. As another example, see these pictures of Mingyu by wonwoozip which, while taken from the point of view of a fan, still manage to highlight the idol’s attractive facial features and well-toned physique—with the distance between idol and fan increased, even if the actual distance between them is decreased.
About gaze
Like any other industry, Hallyu favors good visuals with certain beauty standards perceived to be more attractive and desirable. The K-pop idol is both a product and a producer. As a product, idols undergo years of training, diet, and mental preparations to debut. As producer, idols perform, labor, and continue to train. Part of their labor is taking care of their appearance.
However, this image isn’t limited to the idol’s physical appearance, but also includes their moral and social appearance. Taking care of their image is not limited to working out in the gym, skin care, and professional styling; the idol must also take care of their image through not engaging in any activity that might be perceived as immoral or unbecoming of an idol. When they do get into scandals, their image becomes ‘ruined’ and they dip below the limelight. Scandals range from high school bullying issues, to sexual harassment cases, to accusations of drug abuse, and more. Thus, taking care of their image may also involve covering up any of these serious cases; some of them will be true, others will be false.
K-pop idols, and any other celebrity (politicians, even) in the world, present an incomplete image for us fans. As fans, our gazes are limited to what we see. We might even say that our gaze is obscured by the layer of Celebrity, a translucent pane through which we regard our idols. Behind this pane, there is so much more. Much as our idols express themselves in their music, there are parts of them they keep to themselves. This is the reality of appearances, of images: again, the aura that Walter Benjamin tells us cannot be translated to us. What we see is a shadow of that aura, only the tip of that iceberg of an idol’s personality and self.
1 My bias.
2 One of my bias wreckers.
Headcanon Magazine 