Over the past 26 years I have managed to collect well over 300 landing stamps from Seoul, Korea in my various passports. Initially from the truly terrible Kimp'o Airport and more recently from the simply fabulous Inch'on Airport. I have been all over Seoul during my business trips and seen a lot of a country that has changed an incredible amount since my first trip there in 1988. It has gone from drab and positively foreigner unfriendly to a very cool, hip and cosmopolitan place. I enjoy it.
One part that has changed a lot less than the rest is the Namdaemun market - a bustling series of streets near the old Namdaemun Gate (sadly burned down a few years ago by some geriatric maniac). There you can find the usual Korean socks, jeans and t-shirts, along with some amazing food, Korean spices, ginseng and any manner of fabric you can think of. Of course it makes for some fabulous photographs. I have taken a few different film cameras there over the space of a summer and would like to show some of the results here. Most of these were taken over 2 years ago. I doubt much has changed in the meantime.
Restaurant worker uniforms. Nikon F3, Nikkor 50mm F1.2 AiS, Kodak Ektar 100
Wrapping paper. Nikon F3, Nikkor 50mm F1.2 AiS, Kodak Ektar
Unhappy fish. Nikon F3, Nikkor 50mm F1.2 AiS, Kodak Ektar. We used to find these things hanging inside some mainframe computers years ago - "for luck" we were told.
Pots and Pans. Nikon F3, Nikkor 50mm F1.2 AiS, Kodak Ektar
Belt seller. Leica M7, Leica Noctilux 50mm F1.0, Fuji ACROS 100
Footballers. Leica M7, Leica Noctilux 50mm F1.0, Fuji ACROS 100
Fiery stuff. The main flavour driver for Korean food - chili. Nikon F3, Nikkor 50mm F1.2 AiS, Kodak Portra 160VC
Even spicier. Nikon F3, Nikkor 50mm F1.2 AiS, Kodak Portra 160VC
Bums in a row. Nikon F3, Nikkor 50mm F1.2 AiS, Kodak Portra 160VC
Restaurant advertising. Nikon F3, Nikkor 50mm F1.2 AiS, Kodak Portra 160VC