What's Left

I visited Seongsu yesterday.  It's known as the "Brooklyn" of Seoul, with lots of old factories and other industrial/commercial buildings converted and gentrified to cafes, galleries and fashion houses largely catering to young people.  True to that image, in the central area every lane and alley was filled with well-dressed young crowds (which presented problems for moi, who don't generally like to include people in shots -- I often had to wait long minutes for even a  relative lull in the crowd, till I just gave up) merrily chattering away and ambling along to the next hip joint to patronize.

Behind the scenes though, I espied signs of an older community that used to occupy the neighborhood -- it was known as a shoe manufacturing hub of the city.  Whether mass-manufactured trainers or expensive hand-crafted boots, there were factories and shops producing them.  And squeezed in among the fancy new shops were relicts from those bygone days, having resisted the wave of change -- or been left out of it.  And sculptures honoring the old tradition could be found here and there.  All in all, it was a somewhat wistful-making trip.

... and traces