Return of the Genius Photographer

“I’m back.”

After finishing the electronics market tour with Young-ho, I went straight home.

The night had already long fallen.

Had I been a bit later, I might have missed the last bus.

“You’re quite late. Aren’t you tired?”

As soon as I entered the house, my mother greeted me, seemingly waiting for my return.

“No, I’m fine.”

I responded nonchalantly to my worried mother, trying to assure her it was nothing.

I didn’t actually feel tired.

Perhaps it was because I had gotten younger.

I had spent almost half a day wandering around the electronics market, but oddly enough, I didn’t feel fatigued.

Indeed, youth is a wonderful thing.

Despite my words, my mother continued with a doubtful expression.

“How long does it take to buy a camera? If you were going to be this late, you should have told me in advance.”

“Sorry. I took a while to find the camera I wanted.”

“How hard is it to make a phone call? Do you know how many times I almost called Young-ho’s house?”

I had expected to get an earful when I got home.

My mother was always a worrier.

However, listening to her nagging with the mind of an adult was quite painful.

So, instead of replying, I handed her the paper bag I had prepared in advance.

“It won’t happen again. Here’s a present for you, Mom.”

“Huh?”

Seeing the paper bag I handed over, my mother stopped mid-scold, looking bewildered as she took the bag.

“I bought it at the department store on the way home. I took a while because I couldn’t decide what to get.”

“What kind of money do you have to be spending on this…”

“Just take a look. I hope you like it.”

As my mother pulled out the package and looked at the contents, a smile spread across her face.

“Oh my, how did you…”

She forgot all about being angry and draped the scarf around her neck, admiring it repeatedly.

“It’s so beautiful, Woo-jin. It’s just so pretty…”

Even a delinquent like me would learn my mother’s tastes after living two lifetimes.

She loved pretty scarves in my previous life as well…

“Don’t worry about the money. It wasn’t that expensive. I bought it with the money from my latest photo gig.”

“Well, even so…”

My calm response left my mother flustered.

This was the first time something like this had happened, so she seemed unsure how to react.

“Oh, and I got something for Dad too. Is he home?”

“He came home a while ago and is already asleep. He said he has to leave early tomorrow. He’s been really busy and tired lately.”

“Even on the weekend? What should I do with this then?”

Holding up my father’s gift, I asked hesitantly. My mother replied in a gentle tone.

“I’ll give it to him tomorrow. You go get some rest too.”

“Okay. I’ll head to my room then.”

“And thank you for the lovely present.”

Feeling embarrassed by my mother’s softened tone, I simply smiled in response and headed straight to my room.

Time had already crept close to midnight.

Normally, it would be time to go to bed.

But tonight, I couldn’t sleep right away.

There was still work to be done.

-Whirrrrr!

Instead of lying down, I sat on my chair and pressed the power button on the computer.

The computer slowly booted up, emitting its usual noisy start-up sound.

“If I had more money, I would’ve replaced this old computer too.”

I clicked my tongue in disappointment.

In truth, if I had been greedy, I could have replaced the computer.

Even after buying the camera, I still had over a million won left.

But I chose to use that money to buy gifts for my parents instead of upgrading the computer.

“In this life, I’ve decided to make the people I care about happy. Not just myself.”

Though it was a shame about the computer, it wasn’t worth more than my mother’s smile. (oof)

Holding off a little longer isn’t a big deal.

After all, I just have to focus on earning more money from now on.

Now that I had secured a crucial tool, the camera, making money was just a matter of time.

From now on, I could start working as a professional photographer in earnest.

“I need to register as a sole proprietor and look into contests… But first, I should create a blog.”

As I pondered my future plans, the computer finished booting up, and I immediately started moving the mouse to create a blog.

“I’ll use it as a portfolio, so it should have a gallery feel…”

What is the most important thing for a photographer?

If someone asked me that, I would confidently say it’s the portfolio.

A photographer constantly needs to showcase their work.

What kind of photos can I take, and what kind of photos have I taken in the past?

The collection of photos that demonstrates this is the portfolio.

A photographer has nothing to show but their photos.

It’s akin to a resume or cover letter for a regular office worker.

It serves to introduce oneself to potential clients who don’t know anything about me.

And since I currently don’t have many accomplishments to show, it’s even more crucial.

“Still, it’s not like I have no achievements at all.”

Thinking back, I had done some shoots for an online shop and a magazine.

Considering that I didn’t even have a camera, I had built up quite a bit of experience in a relatively short time.

It wasn’t an impressive list of accomplishments, but having even a little bit of experience listed could be very helpful right now.

“I should ask if I can post the photos I took for 3rd Street Market here. The magazine ones can wait until the issue is out, right?”

There shouldn’t be any problems with 3rd Street Market since we discussed copyrights during the contract. Minjung might even be pleased with the promotion…

As for the magazine photos, I’ll ask once the magazine is published.

“I’ll categorize everything.”

Imagining the future photos I’d take, I started organizing the blog.

I divided it into sections like fashion, portraits, nature, and so on.

I hadn’t uploaded a single photo yet, but I imagined the pictures that would eventually fill these categories.

“Should I set a representative image for each category that links to a new page when clicked? Or should I just display all the images at once?”

Just thinking about it was exciting.

It felt like preparing for an exhibition, filling me with anticipation.

It was like the feeling of being the first to step into a field of untouched white snow.

In a way, this blog was like an untouched field of white snow.

“Is it already 2 AM? Time to sleep.”

I had started around midnight, so two hours had passed by in no time.

I hadn’t uploaded a single photo, but it had already taken this long just to set up the structure.

“I haven’t even finished yet…”

Though I wanted to stay up and work until I was satisfied, it was time to sleep for the sake of tomorrow’s plans.

I had to wake up early with my father to take some photos.

I turned off the computer and lay down, feeling the fatigue slowly washing over me, and quickly fell asleep.

***

-Beep beep beep beep!

The sound of the alarm jolted me awake from a light sleep.

“Ugh… so sleepy…”

Rubbing my eyes groggily, I got out of bed.

It was nearly 5 AM.

I hadn’t even slept for three hours yet I had to get up.

I wish I could sleep more…

“No, snap out of it.”

But there was no time to dawdle, especially not today when I had photos to take.

I gave myself a slight slap on the cheek to shake off the drowsiness and headed straight out of my room.

“Huh? Are you up already?” asked Mom.

“Yes, I’m getting breakfast.”

“Good. Come sit down.”

Despite barely having woken up myself, my parents were already having breakfast early.

I sat down naturally at the table, greeted my father, and started talking.

“Father, are you heading out to work right away?”

“Yeah. The construction company’s been pushing hard lately, so I’m busy.”

“You must be tired.”

“All work is like that.”

As always, my father replied to me in a gruff tone.

He was a construction site laborer, often referred to as a day laborer—a job that people tend to look down upon.

But my father took pride in his work.

He never complained once until he retired, always going out early in the morning, a sight deeply etched into my mind.

But because of that, I never had a proper conversation with him.

As a result, my father was always a difficult presence for me when I was young.

And our relationship stagnated because of it.

It wasn’t until I became an adult that I finally began to understand my father, after he passed away.

The father-son table was quiet. For a while, only the occasional clatter of dishes was heard.

There was no conversation between us.

My father was gruff, and I was lost in the past, silent.

Then, my mother, who couldn’t bear seeing us like this, spoke up.

“Honey, did you thank Woojin for the gift?”

My father turned his head and spoke to me in a measured tone.

“Yes, I received it through your mother. When did you prepare such a thing?”

“Oh… I’ve been wanting to get it for a while. I bought it with the money I earned from work this time.”

“I see. I’ll use it well.”

“Well… but Father.”

“Yeah?”

Awakened from my silence by my mother, I finally brought up what I had been thinking about for a long time.

“Could I go to your workplace today? I’d like to follow you.”

Perhaps someone sharp would have figured it out already.

Today, the photos I was going to take were none other than of my father.

Once I got a camera, the person I most wanted to photograph first and at the same time the person I was most curious about was my father.

“What?”

“It’s an assignment from school for career exploration. They told us to find out about our parents’ jobs. So, I want to take this opportunity to visit where you work.”

It’s difficult to start talking but easier after that. I added an explanation to my surprised father.

“Just write it roughly.”

“At first, I thought about doing that too. But then I realized I don’t even know what you do, Father. So, at least once, I want to see where you work.”

“You’re not supposed to go to places like that. You’re still a student.”

Even so, my father didn’t easily agree.

Was it because he didn’t want to show me his demanding workplace?

He looked very reluctant.

“Woojin seems to be growing up now. Why don’t you take him once?”

At that moment, my mother sided with me and spoke up.

“Still, there are many workers there…”

“No, he’s not going there to work. He just wants to take a look. Why do you hate that so much?”

“…”

“It’s also a school assignment. Are you telling him to do it carelessly?”

Thanks to my mother’s earlier intervention, I could see a way out.

My mother, who has recently trusted me more, intervened, and my father fell silent as if pondering deeply.

In my opinion, what she said was right.

But if I left it like that and let things get twisted into a fight, it would be difficult.

Before my mother’s voice could get louder, I quickly spoke.

“Don’t worry, Father. I’ll go and carefully observe. If it looks dangerous, I’ll just watch from a distance.”

“…”

After my mother’s persuasion and my words, my father, who had been silent for a long time, finally nodded his head in agreement.

That’s how I got the chance to accompany my father.