New Year’s Day: Our bus rolled into Jangheung Harbor, signifying an end to four days on Jeju Island and a beginning to 2013. From the bus window, I glimpsed vividly colored, industrial shipping crates, arranged in rows along the edge of the harbor. They struck me as the perfect representation of a Korean island.
With a half an hour to spare before the ferry would leave, I dodged moving cars on the wide roads, walked across a vast parking lot and shimmied between empty, parked buses. When I reached the edge of the pier, I lurked between the crates, framing shots and constantly hearing the crisp click of my camera. These crates, slightly lopsided, tarnished, and printed with white Hangeul lettering, beautifully contrasted with the cumulus clouds and patches of clear, blue sky overhead.
I’m a lover of geometric patterns, multiples, and bright colors, which often shows in my own artwork, and I thought they were gorgeous–especially since nobody else was around. I deftly maneuvered around these structures for about 10 minutes, until my stomach growled and I realized that my ferry would be departing for the mainland soon. I backed up, snapped my last shot and returned to the crowded ferry terminal, where nobody else seemed to be interested in staring at piles of crates.
-Text and photography by Sarah Shaw @ www.mappingwords.com. All rights reserved.
