NM 01 BW, from the series Moonrising III

Koo Bohnchang is a celebrated contemporary Korean photographer with strong ties to Australia. 'Moonrising III', 2004-6 is a series of 12 images which captures moon jars ('dalhangari') from collections worldwide including the British Museum in London, Koryo Museum of Art in Kyoto, Musée Guimet in Paris and the Horim Museum, Seoul. Each image is prosaically titled for its source collection and for being in black and white, for example a jar from the British Museum is titled BM 04 BW.

Associated with the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) and made from white-glazed porcelain, moon jars are unique to Korea. Essentially spherical, the vessels are admired not only for the technical skill involved in their production but for the beauty bestowed in their imperfections. Very few Joseon moon jars survive today and most of those are in museum collections outside of Korea. Over a number of years, Koo has reunited several of these jars through his photographs. Deliberately photographed to be shadowless, his images present the individuality of each weighty vessel.