It’s Already Dated

Canon EOS R5, RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM, 24 mm f 4.0 iso 16000 1/8000

One of the interesting things about making a photo is being able to capture moments in time are equal parts difficult and easy to place. At first glance a customer browsing the shelves could be almost anywhere, and anytime within the last century. The light fixtures and the television narrow that time down significantly, the signs in hangul and prices in won narrow the geography significantly. After those clues, it does take some knowledge or more sleuthing to put a fine point on it. This front display, like most retail, one could safely assume has a rotating stock. If we were to go to this store right now, it would already look different. The shelves being on wheels probably means they are wheeled back into the store when it closes from the day. I hope that the customer has already made their choice by now as well.

The longer it has been since it was taken, the more fascinating it becomes to wonder “Are those prices are still any good? Is that store even still in business? What snack did they end up picking?”. It feels like simple, even silly questions can lead to thinking about even greater benchmarks of society as a whole, “How much have prices gone up? Are there jobs any more? Do we have money to spend on snacks?”.

That or I just am nostalgic for Korean snacks from 2025 already.

till next time….