Eric of the K-pop group The Boyz will hold a photography exhibition next month, The Korea Herald has reported. The announcement places the 24-year-old singer among a small but growing group of K-pop idols who present their own photographic work in a gallery setting rather than through social media feeds.

News of the exhibition surfaced through the Korea Herald report, which confirms the show's timing — next month — and its author. The report does not yet list the venue, city, opening date or number of works, details that typically follow when an organizer publishes the formal exhibition notice.

Who is Eric, and what does the show signal?

Eric, born Son Young-jae in South Korea and raised partly in the United States, debuted with The Boyz in December 2017 under Cre.ker Entertainment, now IST Entertainment. The eleven-member group has built its career through a run of comeback cycles and competition-show appearances, and Eric has increasingly shown a personal interest in visual work alongside his performing role.

For an idol to mount a photo exhibition marks a shift in how K-pop artists present themselves. Photography exhibitions give fans and critics a different entry point into an artist's sensibility — one framed by prints on walls rather than by choreography and staged promotional imagery. Whether Eric's show leans toward documentary, portraiture or experimental work remains to be seen until the organizer releases the exhibition details.

Why do idol photography exhibitions matter?

Idol-led exhibitions have become a visible strand of South Korea's gallery calendar in recent years. They draw large, young audiences into commercial and independent art spaces, and they test whether an artist's visual taste can hold up as work in its own right, separate from fandom goodwill.

The critical question for any such show is the same one raised across idol exhibitions: does the photography stand on its own? Some past idol shows have functioned mainly as extended merchandise, heavy on portrait prints and light on authorship. Others have revealed genuine formal interests — composition, color, and a considered eye — that critics took seriously. Which side Eric's exhibition falls on will become clear only when the works go on view.

The timing also matters for Eric individually. A solo exhibition is one of the most public ways an idol can claim creative territory outside the group, ahead of or alongside acting and variety appearances that his bandmates have pursued.

What comes next?

The Korea Herald's report states only the core facts: Eric, The Boyz, a photo exhibition, next month. Fans and photography watchers should expect the venue, dates, curatorial credits and — most importantly — the first images from the series to arrive in the coming weeks, ahead of what would be one of the first idol photography exhibitions of its season.