Parasite photographers

After I bought my first digital camera four years ago, a Canon A40, I was anxious to make use of the fun settings, so I went to a public park in Seoul and started snapping black and whites of the old men sitting around waiting for a free lunch to be served by the city.

I soon discovered people don't like having their pictures taken without permission by strangers. I got lots of dirty looks, several hands waving me away, and even one scolding. I chuckled inside, unbothered and content that I was simply improving my camera skills.

Fast forward to yesterday. I visited Insadong, in Seoul, an upscale shopping district popular for its paper goods, masks, street vendors, and other souvenirs. (Incidentally, Insadong is only a five minute walk from that park I visited four years ago.) I sat down to take a break from the stifling humidity when I noticed these two men, sporting digital SLRs with fancy zooms, snapping pictures of unsuspecting tourists. When the guy on the right pointed his camera across the lane at me, I covered my face with a shopping bag, irritated to find myself on the other end of a photographer's lens.

Then, I remembered I'm often such a parasite (though I try to be more discrete about it these days), so I opened my own camera, set the autofocus, crossed the lane, said, "Say 'Kimchi!'" and took this picture. I thought they might not appreciate my table-turning but the guy on the left actually obeyed and said, "Kimchi!"

Nice.