‘In Seoul city, I see your soul’: Jennie looks back on her 20s in first photo exhibition

Outside a three-story gallery facing Gyeongbok Palace, Jennie’s gaze from five years ago meets the present, staring out toward the city that raised her.

Photos of singer Jennie are displayed at her first photo exhibition, "J2NNI5," at Youthquake in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 16, the opening day of the two-week exhibition. The show features images taken when Jennie was 25 and runs through Jan. 29 to mark her 30th birthday. [SHIN HA-NEE]

Outside a three-story gallery facing Gyeongbok Palace, Jennie’s gaze from five years ago meets the present, staring out toward the city that raised her.

As the K-pop star turned 30 on Friday, a photo exhibition celebrating fragments of her 20s — at times bold, at others intimate — opened in the heart of her hometown, Seoul.

Photos are displayed on the second floor of singer Jennie’s first photo exhibition, "J2NNI5," at Youthquake in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 16, the opening day of the two-week exhibition. The show features images taken when Jennie was 25 and runs through Jan. 29 to mark her 30th birthday. [KIM MYEONG-JI]

Titled “J2NNI5,” the exhibition runs from Friday through Jan. 29 at Youthquake gallery in Jongno District, central Seoul. The event marks her first photo exhibition, featuring photos taken when the Blackpink member was 25. Jennie collaborated with renowned Korean photographers Hong Jang-hyun, Shin Sun-hye and Mok Jung-wook, presenting “the most authentic fragments of Jennie discovered in unplanned moments,” according to her agency, Odd Atelier.

Upon entering the venue, visitors are first met with a dimly lit room anchored by a long table scattered with puzzle pieces. As the pieces are placed into their missing slots, images of Jennie begin to appear on the walls and the table, offering a preview of the exhibition.

The second floor largely centers on bright, natural images of Jennie, while a series of monochrome photographs placed beside a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking Gyeongbok Palace make an homage to her roots — previously seen in moments such as her recent 2025 Melon Music Awards performance, where she appeared in a veil engraved with passages from “Cheongguyeongeon” (1728), Korea’s earliest known compilation of song lyrics.

Photos are displayed on the second floor of singer Jennie’s first photo exhibition, "J2NNI5," at Youthquake in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 16, the opening day of the two-week exhibition. The show features images taken when Jennie was 25 and runs through Jan. 29 to mark her 30th birthday. [KIM MYEONG-JI]

Photos are displayed on the second floor of singer Jennie’s first photo exhibition, "J2NNI5," at Youthquake in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 16, the opening day of the two-week exhibition. The show features images taken when Jennie was 25 and runs through Jan. 29 to mark her 30th birthday. [KIM MYEONG-JI]

On the third floor, the mood turns more intimate. Muted, largely monochromatic images — including a half-nude portrait of her covering her upper torso — are displayed, with some hanging from the wall on thin screens, alongside blue acrylic photographs of the artist in water.

The exhibition concludes on the rooftop. Inside a small booth, Jennie’s recorded narration plays, listing keywords such as “twenty-five,” “curiosity, “time” and “love.”

Pictured is the third floor of singer Jennie’s first photo exhibition, "J2NNI5," at Youthquake in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 16, the opening day of the two-week exhibition. The show features images taken when Jennie was 25 and runs through Jan. 29 to mark her 30th birthday. [SHIN HA-NEE]

“In Seoul city, I see your soul,” Jennie sang in her 2025 track “Seoul City.” The latest exhibition turns that sentiment inward, and at the same time, outward.

Reflecting on herself at 25, Jennie said she often felt lost.

Pictured is the third floor of singer Jennie’s first photo exhibition, "J2NNI5," at Youthquake in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 16, the opening day of the two-week exhibition. The show features images taken when Jennie was 25 and runs through Jan. 29 to mark her 30th birthday. [SHIN HA-NEE]

“At first, I excluded so many photos because I felt embarrassed, trying to leave only the ones I thought were pretty,” Jennie said in a recorded interview footage played at the end of the exhibition. “But when I asked myself about why I took these photos and looked at them again, I realized they were simply me, and came to embrace that.”

Hoping her candid self-reflection would resonate with visitors, she added, “I wish this exhibition could be a time where you can think about fragments of your own.”

A photobook is available for purchase at the venue alongside various merchandise. The revenue from ticket sales will be donated to charity, according to her agency.

Photos are displayed on the second floor of singer Jennie’s first photo exhibition, "J2NNI5," at Youthquake in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 16, the opening day of the two-week exhibition. The show features images taken when Jennie was 25 and runs through Jan. 29 to mark her 30th birthday. [KIM MYEONG-JI]

Pictured is the second floor of singer Jennie’s first photo exhibition, "J2NNI5," at Youthquake in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 16, the opening day of the two-week exhibition. The show features images taken when Jennie was 25 and runs through Jan. 29 to mark her 30th birthday. [SHIN HA-NEE]

Photos are displayed on the third floor of singer Jennie’s first photo exhibition, "J2NNI5," at Youthquake in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 16, the opening day of the two-week exhibition. The show features images taken when Jennie was 25 and runs through Jan. 29 to mark her 30th birthday. [KIM MYEONG-JI]

An installmation on the rooftop of singer Jennie’s first photo exhibition, "J2NNI5," at Youthquake in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 16, the opening day of the two-week exhibition. The show features images taken when Jennie was 25 and runs through Jan. 29 to mark her 30th birthday. [SHIN HA-NEE]

A poster for Jennie's first photo exhibition, ″J2NNI5,″ which runs from Jan. 16 through 29 to mark her 30th birthday at Youthquake in Jongno District, central Seoul [ODD ATELIER]

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]