Day 15 (8.27)- But first, let me take a selfie…

Selfie culture is a big part of our modern era, no matter the country, but Korea is a little different than the US in a way…It’s more socially acceptable. The selfie stick is something really mocked back at home (despite its practicality). Here, this is a pretty common scene…

The selfie is used to document where a person’s been, as well as who they’ve been there with. As you can see with this small, 2 photo narrative, you can see that it’s more than just a one-man show, or a chance to show off we have friends.

First of all, they’re all wearing a similar outfit, so they clearly coordinated this ahead of time. The girl in red has the other girls take a photo of just here, then she comes back, and they go through the snaps together to see if they got a “good one”…. We do this in American culture all the time, but the difference is how normalized it is here. Everyone is taking pictures of themselves, together, and each other, and its utterly normal. No judgey stares, no eye rolls, no mind actually. It’s more about documenting the moment rather than ignoring it.

Some photogenic spots like “Common Ground,” a shopping center made up of old shipping containers make for the perfect spot for locals to gather and get that perfect shot for Instagram.

It’s about teamwork, as you can see. Good friends in Korea drop everything to help their friend get that perfect picture… Everything except their meat skewers apparently…