Born in Seoul, Korea 1953, Koo has first graduated from Yonsei University majoring in Business Administration and later studied photography in Hamburg, Germany. He had been actively teaching photography in many schools around the world and currently he is a professor of the Department of Photography & Video at Kyungil University.

His works have been exhibited in over 30 solo exhibitions including Camera Obscura, Paris (2004), Kukje Gallery, Seoul and Kahitsukan Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art (2006), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia (2010) and most recently participated in the group exhibition “Simple Forms: Contemplating Beauty” in Mori Art Museum, Tokyo this year in 2015.

Koo’s works are collected by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Kahitsukan Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul and many other museums and private collections. Some of his publications are Deep Breath in Silence, Revealed Personas, Vessels for the Heart, How to Capture the Touching Moment, Hysteric Nine, Vessel, Everyday Treasures, and many more.