It was right before the world was engulfed by COVID-19.

January 2020

The full-blown pandemic that completely changed the world started around February or March 2020, I remember.

As often happens on trips with just a bunch of guys, there were quarrels and reconciliations during this short trip of less than a week, and plenty of hilarious memories were made. Above all, I'm just grateful that we were able to travel abroad at such a perfectly timed moment—it felt like we could see the future.

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Just boarding a plane was enough to make my heart flutter

A Hobbiest Photographer

It hadn't been long since I'd started photography as a hobby (specifically using a digital camera). Back then, I carried my camera around like it was part of me, eagerly wanting to capture everything I saw through the lens. Every photo I took seemed to turn out well, and even adjusting the colors felt like magic.

Looking back now, those early photos have saturation and contrast cranked up so high they hurt your eyes.

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Hakata Canal City. I don't think I knew who was performing there even back then.

But photos from that time have their own unique sensibility. They're eye-straining, yet I think they turned out not too bad—or maybe it means my photography skills haven't improved much over the years.

Or perhaps it's all layered with the thick filter of fond memories.

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Though I'd been to Japan almost every year since I was young (around 30 months old), surprisingly this was my first time visiting Fukuoka. Fukuoka has always been overflowing with Korean tourists, both then and now, but thanks to the boycott movement, it wasn't quite as crowded back then. In other words, it was pleasantly relaxed.

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Why did I love this yellowish sepia tone so much back then?

The Journey at Twenty

Since we left without much of a plan, we ended up walking for hours in the cold winter. I wish I could say I didn't find it exhausting, but it was quite tiring even then.

But you can't get good photos without just walking around aimlessly. It's truly difficult to take good photos at popular tourist photo spots where everyone else is shooting.

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We walked for hours to get to Fukuoka Tower. Setting out with a "let's just start walking without knowing how far it is" mindset—if that's not a twenty-year-old's trip, what is?

The camera I used back then was my first camera, the Olympus E-M10 Mark III, which couldn't be considered a great camera even by 2019 standards. But the price of 400 dollars at that time, more than covered its many shortcomings.

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The eel was so delicious. I regretted not ordering the larger one to save a few bucks for years afterward.
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Even during a drinking session, I kept pressing the shutter.
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Even at an ordinary convenience store, I tried hard to capture something atmospheric.
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Yufuin, beautiful.

The Yufuin ryokan was expensive, of course, but sharing a room with friends made it reasonable. I remember the path to the hot spring attached to the hotel being a bit scary.

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When I looked at these photos 2-3 years ago, it felt strange that they captured the world before the pandemic, and I even felt a kind of longing. But now that we've completely returned to normal life, I wonder if such thoughts were a bit overdramatic.

Now, seven years into my photography hobby, what I find myself missing more is a time when my equipment, my editing style, and my mindset while taking photos were all so different from now.