From Classrooms to KTX Chaos
Friday wrapped up the usual way — grinding through a full day of teaching with my students. Eyes glazed, voice hoarse, my body melting in the humidity of a full on Korean. Once that last last student left my cubical, I didn’t hesitate. I packed my bag, grabbed by overused tumbler and headed home. Time for the transition to photographer.
The target? Seoul.
The reason? The K-Pop Demon Hunters movie is breaking records and I have an article to write.
The method? Relentless walking, sweating, shooting, and surviving.
Chasing K-Pop Demons in a Concrete Furnace
The day started early with a photowalk in Seuldo. The weather was amazing, and I was glad my students got to see Ulsan dressed in her summer best. That’s life here — beauty before the rains. Calm before the storm.
We got the shots. The students were happy. Then I was off.
After a quick stop at home, I hit the road toward Seoul. This was going to be an adventure, and I was all in.
The whole reason for the trip was K-Pop Demon Hunters — a fever dream of Korean mythology, neon, and synchronized Kpop songs and dances. One of those wild crossover concepts Korea pulls off without flinching — part performance, part fashion show, part kpop soundtrack that smashes records. I didn’t know exactly what I was walking into, but I knew it would be visual dynamite.
Curveballs, Trains, and Missed Connections
First curveball? Parking.
I took my SUV, thinking — foolishly — that it would save time. It didn’t.
The station lot was a gridlocked disaster. I sat, inching forward, watching the clock melt. Here’s the thing about station parking in Korea: the trains leave before the lot opens up. I watched my train come and go while still outside the gate.
Eventually, the barrier lifted. I parked. I sprinted.
I missed the train.
But this is Korea — there’s always another one. I booked a standing ticket on the next KTX and rode north with my back to the wall. No seat, but no delay either. I was rolling again.
Seoul After Dark, Seoul on Fire
By the time I stepped off at COEX Station, Seoul had turned into a giant oven. The heat hit like a wall. Camera ready, sweat already pooling. Caffeine kept me vertical. You don’t travel this far to phone it in.
You go full tilt or stay home and scroll.
The LED billboards outside COEX cut through the haze like K-pop lighthouses, guiding fans to the Starfield Library. I snapped what I could, circling the giant 3D Billboard installation. Tourists floated around, clueless and in the way. I waited. Blue hour crept in slowly — muggy, moody, magic.
I was hungry and drenched in sweat.
But you keep shooting. You keep hunting.
Because that’s what we do.
Next stop: Jayang Station. It made a brief appearance in the movie, and I wanted a shot of the platform. Nothing special, honestly — until I turned around.
There it was. Lotte World Tower, framed through a window like a movie still. A metal chair and table perfectly placed in the foreground. I thought I was hallucinating from heatstroke. But it was real. And perfect.
Walls, Moonlight, and WTF Moments
Back on the subway, I rolled over to Dongdaemun. My feet ached. My brain turned to pudding. One more shot on the list: the old wall at Naksan Park.
Dragging myself through the DDP, it felt like I’d stumbled into a surreal block party. A guy blasting Bollywood tracks while napping against the historic wall. A couple beside me going full out on each other it felt like a mating documentary from National Geographic — hands everywhere. It was gross and mildly disturbing.
But the moon was rising. Seoul’s skyline was glowing.
And weird musical tastes and face-suckers weren’t going to throw me off my game.
I got the shots. I limped back to my hotel with a sports drink in one hand and a mixture of sweat and sunscreen in both eyes.
I was beat down— but not beaten.
Concrete, Steel, and a 4 AM Wake-Up
Most people would’ve crashed after a night like that.
I’m not most people.
By 4:30 AM, I was up, out the door and back out into the heat.
Dragging myself toward Dongdaemun Gate and up toward Naksan Park — not for history, not for a tour — but for that light. That quiet. That brief golden silence before Seoul cranks the volume back up.
There’s a peace in photographing a place before it wakes.
This is why you rise early.
This is the light you dream about.
And in that moment, sweat already soaking through my shirt, Seoul felt like it was mine.
☕ Coffee, Crashes, and Museum Letdowns
Then came the hunt for coffee.
This is Korea — even at 6 AM, you can score a decent cup. I grabbed one and crashed at the hotel for a bit. Energy conservation mode: engaged.
Next up was the National Museum of Korea. It had been over a decade since my last visit, and I remembered why so many locals and expats keep it on their radar. That staircase shot with Namsan Tower in the background? Classic. I grabbed mine and went searching for the Demon Hunters pop-up.
Only to find out… it was gone.
Merch that was specifically requested — sold out. Just a shrug and an empty look from the staff member wondering why an over-the-hill bald foreigner was so interested in a Kpop movie.
Running on Fumes, Still Hunting for the Shot
By midday, I was cooked. Done. Think soggy burnt toast.
There was no inspiration. No divine muse guiding my lens.
Just fatigue, smelly soaked shirts, and the nagging voice saying, “You’ve still got more to shoot.”
The city had become a sauna. My gear bag felt like a deadlift. My brain was somewhere back on Line 1. Seoul had even beaten my trusty stick of old spice “high endurance” but I was not about to give up. I just had to strategically apply more deodorant for the sake of all of the other passengers on the subway.
After that… I kept going.
Through backstreets, cafés, subway tunnels, and tourist traps.
Not because it was fun. Not because I was “motivated.”
But because sometimes the job is to show up and bleed it out through the lens.
This isn’t romantic. It’s not glamorous.
You chase the shot — not the feeling.
The Final Stretch
I stumbled out to the Han River, chasing one final shot of Cheongdam Bridge.
But the sky had turned to milk. The humidity? Oppressive.
It looked like Train to Busan with less zombies.
All I had left were angles and zoom.
Just as I was about to give up, I spotted Seoul Olympic Stadium across the water. I staggered to the edge like a bald, fat, overheated John Wick. You know the walk. I got my shots and limped on.
Next stop: Myeongdong.
It was chaos — TikTok kids, tourists, salespeople screaming through microphones.
And somehow, like a caffeine-soaked miracle, I popped out near a Tim Hortons.
I inhaled an Ice Capp and an additional iced Americano, then bolted into the crowd.
Wove through the madness, hit the Cheonggyecheon Stream on the way out, and gave a final middle finger to the heat.
I didn’t come out unscathed but I got what I came for.
Wrapping It Up
I’ve had more enjoyable photo days. Cooler ones. Cleaner ones.
But this one? This was honest work.
Hot, heavy, grinding-it-out kind of work.
You want pretty pictures? They don’t come easy.
You want a portfolio that matters? Learn to shoot when your feet are screaming, when your brain is fried, when your shirt is stuck to your back and your soul’s halfway to quitting.
That’s the grind.
That’s the game.
And that’s Seoul in the summer.
If you want to see the article, you can check it out here.
Until next time — keep grinding.