Korean Photographer, Bien-u Bae
Elton John bought his pine tree photographs at $27,000
Mr Bae, Bien-u (Bae) is the most well-known Korean photographer in South Korea. He became popular outside of South Korea after selling one of his pine tree photographs to English singer Elton John in 2005. Former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak later gave a collection of Bae's pine tree photographs to U.S. president Barack Obama during a summit held in Washington.
Renowned as a professional photographer with themes especially concentrated on pine trees, he has become a representative photographer with the reputation of capturing the characteristic sentiments of Korea including the pine trees, oceans and mountains with his camera rather than a brush.
He was born in Yeosu, Jeollanam-do in 1950, and graduated from Hongik University’s College of Arts in 1974 and the graduate school of the same university in 1976. He served as a professor of the Department of Photography at Seoul Institute of the Arts.
Reference site: Wiki
