The Special Commonplace: A Photo Collection
A little tribute to Tao Lin
One of the greatest feelings on Substack is the totally random discovery of a brilliant writer.
Last week, I stumbled upon
. Just from glancing at the overall aesthetic of his newsletter, I knew I was going to enjoy his work. You know the feeling.Long story short, I was right. Two days later, I became a paid subscriber and I’m looking to acquire a Romanian translation of one of his novels, Taipei, which appears to be available at my local bookstore.
But I digress. The reason I mention Tao Lin is because he sometimes publishes collections of photos he took, seasoned with captions. The photos are not, artistically speaking, photography. What they are is intimate, funny, heartwarming instances of the commonplace.
Though I’ve been taking pictures for as long as I've had a phone (circa 2008), I’ve never really taken the time to browse through them. The photos just sit there, collecting digital dust. Well, Tao Lin inspired me to take a fresh look at what I’ve got.
Mind, my current phone’s gallery only goes as far back as 2018, which might be when I first opted for iCloud. Lots of interesting things were lost, but what remains is plenty fun.
What follows is my little tribute to a wonderful writer.
Ikuzo!1
A burger place where I ate the best cheeseburger in my life. Stumbled upon it while visiting relatives in Zurich.
The upper part of the inside of the Infinity Book Tower in Prague. Don’t look down if you’re afraid of elevators.
Haiku by Bashō discovered in Leiden, Netherlands. I was supposed to go there for a semester in college but ended up passing. Went there later on a city break to see what I’d missed. Many such poems, in different languages, can be found throughout the city. Here’s a translation2 of this one:
The rough sea -
Extending toward Sado Isle,
The Milky Way
The time I accidentally recreated Jupiter on the inside of a ladle.
Remember Rosemary’s Baby? This is what he looks like now.
The first time I tried Wendy’s. Had to go to Panama City for it. Is it just me or does her collar spell “Mom”?3
The only time I managed to make a burger that looks like a burger.
“Made in Korea” photo album found among my grandfather’s things after his death. Where in communism did he find it?
Most likely the first ever Romanian translation of Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris. Found in same place as No. 8.
Getting ready for some serious packing. This is from the weeks before we left Bucharest to move to a small city six hours away by train.
Found in Basel. So this is how they made beer back in the day.
Yoshi, my family’s dog, the week we got him (2019).
Yoshi, eight months later.
During the early days of this newsletter, we lived in a building that was right next to a high school. I was always creeped out by the manequin in the uppermost window. We don’t have fashion classes in Romania. What did they use it for?
The first time I saw the Atlantic Ocean. Technically, it was the Carribean Sea, as I was in Curaçao. Still counts, right?
Funny caption I found on a pizza. Translation: “Oh, what a wonderful pizza!”
Why is it funny? Oh, right, you don’t know. “O, ce veste minunată!” (“Oh, what wonderful news!") is a popular Romanian Christmas carol, about the birth of Christ. It’s a pretty clever pun.4
Found this flower-filled Trabant in Iași a few months ago. Is it meant to symbolize the death of communism? Is it just beautiful? Your guess is as good as mine.
Old Phillips radio found in the “Mihai Eminescu” museum in Iași. The ground floor was dedicated to the poet, while the upper floor was a theatre museum, complete with original outfits from the first renditions of Shakespeare in Romanian. What was a radio doing there? They didn’t tell us.
Heart-shaped ravioli we made this past Valentine’s Day.
I love these cups. The hipsters at BOB, a boutique coffee lab, make them. I’d planned to use this picture for an essay, but I ended up not writing it after all.
This might look like an oil drum, but it’s actually a grill. Found and used in my wife’s grandma’s backyard.
You hear this phrase a lot in anime. It’s usually translated to “Here we go” or “Let’s go”. But as per this article, the actual meaning of the phrase is much more complex.
Translation by R.H. Blyth.
Wow, Andrei. What a very interesting collection of photos. I gain insight into your character and personality here. And, well....... hamburgers, steaks, fries, ravioli. You have me drooling...
Those haiku in Leidin on the buildings are amazing! Never been.
I have been to Holy Cow in Zurich though! We also had one in Basel. Great burgers :)
This is a lovely idea, Andrei.