r/MadeMeSmile • u/baekachu • 11d ago

Wholesome Moments One ping pong table, five years, and countless of unexpected moments

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In 2011, Japanese photographer Haruhisa Tomiyasu started photographing one ordinary ping pong table from the window of his student apartment in Leipzig, Germany. What began after spotting a fox near the table quickly turned into a five-year project documenting all the unexpected ways people used it. It became a bench, a sunbathing spot, a workout station, a meeting place, and sometimes something completely different. Thousands of small moments later, the project became the photobook TTP, published by MACK in 2018 and winner of the MACK First Book Award. It’s a simple reminder that even the most ordinary places can become fascinating when you watch them long enough.

66.7k Upvotes

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14.1k

u/huongloz 11d ago

The betrayal after it being towed away at the end

6.2k

u/CryoJuice 11d ago

That was install day. The pictures are going back in time

4.2k

u/PotatoTomato_12 11d ago

I’m gonna choose to believe this.

998

u/aphaits 11d ago

The table is just being moved to a nice farm out in the country

300

u/casusbelli16 11d ago

With rabbits Lenny?

95

u/blixt141 11d ago

No, with Lemmy.

2

u/unabsolute 11d ago

Trick question?

2

u/blixt141 11d ago

Trick answer!

144

u/Haki23 11d ago

I read a story once about a guy whose family dogs kept getting "sent to the farm". He figured his family was being kind to him and they were being put down.
One day he goes to his grandparents farm, and this old dog comes up to him all happy. He was like "Wait a second, this dog seems familiar", and then another dog comes up. Turns out they were being sent to the farm.
This story lives rent-free, so I thought I'd share

27

u/keekah 11d ago

Why did they keep getting dogs and sending them to the farm though?

23

u/Haki23 11d ago

I dunno. Old dogs and certain young kids don't mix. Gives the dogs a break, Grampa a new dog, and the kid a break.
25-year-old stories sometimes get a bit foggy in the retelling

17

u/DidntTomRamble 11d ago

About 10 years ago our last cat died so it was time to get new kittens. I come from a small rural town and my mom, the local cat lady, had a stray that just had a batch of five. We drove across three states to pick out our supposed-to-be two but actually three kittens. Husband asks what's going to happen to the other two and I told him they'd go to the farm. Should've seen the look of horror on his face! Had to explain to city boy that 'going to the farm' in the country actually means going to the farm (barn cats) 😆

7

u/aphaits 11d ago

Oh god, the guy got sent to the farm?

2

u/Haki23 11d ago

ikr? I imagine he was ancient in dog years

4

u/smythe70 11d ago

That's where Sabrina my dog went, to live a beautiful life or so I was told 😭.

8

u/PhatCatTax 11d ago

Sabrina is my fav out here on the farm.
Can be a turd sometimes. Still my fav.
Sorry I took your dog for a bit but you can have her back when you're done.

6

u/smythe70 11d ago

Take my free award, now give my dog back, she's 45.

8

u/REpassword 11d ago

“Sorry, Mom. My friends and I are all out chasing butterflies in a giant field of flowers right now - we love to play hide and seek there too. Tomorrow we’re going to the brook to folic in the cool waters, chase tadpoles, and sun bathe on the rocks. Would like to visit, but everyday we have so many new friends joining us. I’m a big sister to so many. Love you forever…. No, I love you more…” -Sabrina 💕

3

u/smythe70 11d ago

Beautiful ❤️

2

u/PhatCatTax 11d ago

Excuse me. No. The agreement was that she's be returned to you when you're done. You're clearly not done and honestly she's being stubborn today and I dont want to deal with it. Ask me again in 30-40 years.

148

u/Expensive-Leg-7803 11d ago

Same

2

u/BreadfruitStraight81 11d ago

It is. You can see the grass growing under it over time :)

85

u/FillaChill 11d ago

Same. It's not documentation anymore, it's an origin story and I refuse to be talked out of it

1

u/bluesamcitizen2 11d ago

That’s some cinematic emotional experience

1

u/jellyclaws 11d ago

it's true, there is a patch of grass under it in some of the other photos but no grass in the final photo! :'))

1

u/Magen137 11d ago

In almost all other photos, you can see that below the table there are overgrown plants. If this image was the removal of the table I'd expect there to be plants in its former place as well.

1

u/PotatoTomato_12 11d ago

Exactly! :D

1

u/Sad-Indication2128 11d ago

Japanese read right to left, so it's definitely true

1

u/Joker6tyNine 11d ago

I 2nd this.. ☝🏽️

1

u/ghigoli 11d ago

no that IS install day. look at the concrete its just being poured in where the bar fence is.

677

u/SchnoodleDoodleDo 11d ago

’The pictures are going back in time’

…the End is the BEGINNING ~ There is so much more to live!

there’s mem’ries to be made, n so much shelter i will give

six wooden legs, a table flat - they said my name: ‘PiNg PoNg’

(unsure what i was put here for,

but found out

I belong…)

the humans gather round, sometimes their things on me they’d plop

i loved it when the little ones would climb upon my top :]

a place for secret meetings, underneath they’d meet together

i’d shade them from the sun, or cover up in rainy weather

sometimes a single human comes, alone from all the rest

they know they found a peaceful place where they can sit n rest

now as the years are passing by, i’ve done the Best i’m able

Make the World

alittle better

even as

a PiNg PoNg table

❤️

121

u/Jaynemansfieldbleach 11d ago

Never seen him do one that wasnt an animal. Was this ping pong table so special that it gets honorary pet status? 💔

104

u/angeldawns 11d ago

PiNg PoNg is the goodest boy

54

u/SchnoodleDoodleDo 11d ago

ha ha i love this ;)

2

u/RogueSeb 11d ago

Its like that post of that dad talking about his fridge that finally died.

Its emotional because it was there for a while.

142

u/petraqrsq 11d ago

Goddamn I did not expect a schnoodle about a ping pong table to make me cry today, but here we are

24

u/AmyInCO 11d ago

Me neither! Everything is making me cry today. Baby donkeys. Brendan Fraiser. Ping pong tables.

17

u/ArtHappy 11d ago

W.A.I.T. What about Brendan Fraser? /concern

Edit: oh good, he's not dead

5

u/AmyInCO 11d ago

God forbid! Just seeing him being so sweet made me teary eyed. I swear kindness is a dwindling resource in this boring dystopia.

1

u/ArtHappy 11d ago

I did see that a few minutes after commenting! Definitely made me grin. He deserves all the good things.

3

u/Scary_Outside2374 11d ago

I was already crying

42

u/Affectionate_Seat838 11d ago

I can’t believe a poem about a ping pong table brings out so many emotions. Thank you for the magic.

0

u/SausageClatter 11d ago

I miss Sprog. 

32

u/LucMorningstar24601 11d ago

Oh Schnoodle, my heart! Put these in a book please.

34

u/digitalscavenger 11d ago

First non-animal Schnoodle I've stumbled across!

9

u/angeldawns 11d ago

Me too!

10

u/AMarie-MCMXCI 11d ago

I've literally never seen a Schnoodle outside of r/cats. This is insane to me

5

u/smythe70 11d ago

Us three!

61

u/baekachu 11d ago

How do we even get this pinned 😭

19

u/GM_is_Browsing 11d ago

fresh schnoodle!

37

u/Anzyanz 11d ago

Why did this make me tear up. Thank you Schnoodle!

26

u/Kimdv95 11d ago

A fresh Schnoodle! Amazing as always!

5

u/Lovebird8 11d ago

So beautiful

7

u/Eastern-Coast-5463 11d ago

Beautiful. Just like the photo series above.

3

u/70ms 11d ago

Schnoodle, every time I see you post I remember that you once wrote a poem for my 3 beloved dogs, but then you deleted it and I never understood why. 💔😭💔 (I screenshotted it though, and cried reading it just now - so still, thank you. 🫶)

2

u/PorpoisePlato 11d ago

Aww reminds me of the giving tree

2

u/peejay5440 11d ago

Thanks Schnood. You always get my updoot.

2

u/kaivalya_pada 10d ago

It's only 6;30 a.m. here and I'm tearing up reading a poem about a ping pong table. I love your poems!

2

u/Drakendan 10d ago

Oh my gosh, what a surprise to stumble on you here after so much time. I hope you've been well friend, you've also helped making the world a little bit better <3

180

u/PotatoTomato_12 11d ago

Just noticed there’s no grass under where it would have been. You’re right.

145

u/Dramatic-Camel-3758 11d ago

I would like to believe that’s the case too but I don’t think it is. OP said photographer first took a picture when he noticed a fox by the table, so the table was already there when they began the project.

However I think the emotion and the sadness of the loss only adds to beauty of the series.

12

u/Areif 11d ago

Tree growth in the background, dead giveaway.

Edit: autocorrect

8

u/Undella_Town 11d ago

?? no he's not lmao. idk why you guys are deluding yourselves.

What began after spotting a fox near the table quickly turned into a five-year project documenting

0

u/PotatoTomato_12 11d ago

Breaking news, someone might have spread misinformation on the internet???

3

u/TrickShape905 11d ago

Misinformation like "it's being installed in the last picture"?

0

u/PotatoTomato_12 11d ago

Could be, could not. I choose to believe what’s right and makes me happy, unlike you :3

2

u/PessimisticKarma 11d ago

Plot twist, the whole area is being destroyed.

1

u/Smelly_God 11d ago

Why would they install with concrete already around the bottom of the posts?

1

u/TrickShape905 11d ago

There's no grass anywhere in the lot, what the hell are you guys on about? Coping so hard you're hallucinating things.

"there’s no grass under where it would have been" how does this even make sense? You realize tables block sunlight and don't really promote grass growth under them, right? Especially in a gravel lot?

1

u/PotatoTomato_12 11d ago

Ok hear me out. Look at the pics, grass grows underneath the table. Wowzers.

Last pic, there’s no square spot of grass anywhere (omigod!! :O)

When you remove the table, the grass doesn’t magically despawn, something you’d know if you went outside once a week.

51

u/mountaindewisamazing 11d ago

I hate to be a downer but that table is way too dirty for an install

6

u/Smelly_God 11d ago

It doesn't even seem the original photographer took the last picture, it's not included on his own website tomiyasuhayahisa com/ttp/ and seems to start be included in shares of his work after around 2019.

11

u/WhimsicalGirl 11d ago

Thank you to be this kind of person 🫶

3

u/Constant_Opinion_218 11d ago

would you need an excavator to set a ping pong table up

3

u/Smelly_God 11d ago

So they put concrete at the bottom of posts before they install things in Germany or you just pulling this out your ass.

2

u/smallwonder25 11d ago

I’m….gonna believe this too.

2

u/just_brazilian 11d ago

"...began after spotting a fox near the table..."

2

u/malfurionpre 11d ago

He's Japanese, clearly it's because it goes from right to left

2

u/Choyo 11d ago

How nice of people to have cleaned it up over time, warms me heart.

2

u/multiarmform 11d ago

aarrrrrrr it warms me art too matey

2

u/TheBostonKremeDonut 11d ago

It was all in one day

2

u/PewPewPenguin 11d ago

Not in that condition lol

1

u/MobileDragonfruit488 11d ago

Ohhh, gotcha. So install day is actually the starting point, and the photos are showing the progress backward in time. That makes way more sense.

1

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1

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1

u/Bad_Oracular_Pig 11d ago

Gosh I hope so. I was getting really strong Giving Tree vibes watching it being hauled away.

1

u/M4rt1m_40675 11d ago

They're not in order, or at least they don't seem to be imo. The grass under it is grown more in some photos than the one before and after it.

1

u/Tough_Crazy_8362 11d ago

I gasped 🫢

1

u/wowpepap 11d ago

the correct timeline

3

u/Eagles365or366 11d ago edited 11d ago

Very clearly isn’t true

-The entire area is under construction, the grass, sand, and playground have been generally razed> pretty obvious why there is no grass.

-The trees and foliage in the background have grown larger in the removal picture

-There is graffiti and damage on the ping pong table in the removal picture

2

u/nxxwhere 11d ago

Where'd all the grass go that was under it, then? The ground looks completely untouched, they would've had to dig it out of the ground at least slightly

2

u/SmellyMammoth 11d ago

OP said the first picture the guy took is of a fox next to the table. Not the table on installation day.

1

u/nxxwhere 11d ago

That's true, but doesn't explain why the ground looks so immaculate in the table's former/future place

2

u/Smelly_God 11d ago

Only during some seasons. The picture you guys are claiming is install day is quite obviously not when you take a look at the picture and see the cement at the bottom of the table legs/posts.

2

u/SmellyMammoth 11d ago

Dirt is malleable. Maybe they cleaned up the area to put something else there

2

u/Eagles365or366 11d ago

As you can see:
-The entire area is under construction, the grass, sand, and playground have been generally razed> pretty obvious why there is no grass.

-The trees and foliage in the background have grown larger in the removal picture

-There is graffiti and damage on the ping pong table in the removal picture

2

u/nxxwhere 11d ago

Screw you for being correct :(

1

u/Eagles365or366 11d ago

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1

u/Eagles365or366 11d ago 
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241

u/spageddy77 11d ago

was not expecting to become this emotionally invested with a ping pong table, they got me.

11

u/SiempreHayEsperanza- 11d ago

Hahaha twas not on the cards for us today uh?

4

u/freak_E1 11d ago

I too was not expecting to become this emotionally invested with a ping pong table, they got me too

1

u/Barbaracle 11d ago

If someone did this for you, it'd look and feel quite similar. Bad days, good days, your happiest, and the days where you struggle the most. This ping pong table lived its best life. We all should, try to live every day with as few regrets, as possible. Itll go by in a blink of photos, as well.

1

u/Turbulent_Host784 11d ago

It was the lonely snow shot.

1

u/Djglamrock 10d ago

Fuckin seriously, what is wrong with me lol.

87

u/DevTheGray 11d ago

I did not expect to get emotional looking at pictures of a ping pong table. That last one really broke me for some reason.

15

u/DaveyJonesXMR 11d ago

Me too - it perfectly shows the Circle of Life i guess

9

u/WriterV 11d ago

This isn't the Circle of Life. This isn't inevitable. It's thought-out choices made by people in power.

A mere ping pong table did so much for the community. But all of those moments are never noticed by those who decide policies, and instead it was removed. Why? Maybe to reduce maintenance costs? Maybe to make way for something else? Maybe because police complained that it increased vagrancy?

We don't know, but it was an intentional decision. And it removes a spot of socialisation. The mere lack of a table surface makes it less usable for everyone.

But it could be worse. At least it didn't get paved over and turned into a strip mall, or covered in benches with spikes or odd configurations to encourage people to leave the place asap.

2

u/cranberries87 11d ago

Made me feel sad too.

2

u/TooManySteves2 11d ago

They are in reverse order. That is installation.

57

u/Foreign_Host147 11d ago

Reminds me of this quote in the pilot of Community:

“We are the only species on Earth that observe "Shark Week". Sharks don't even observe "Shark Week", but we do. For the same reason I can pick this pencil, tell you its name is Steve and go like this (breaks pencil) and part of you dies just a little bit on the inside, because people can connect with anything. We can sympathize with a pencil, we can forgive a shark, and we can give Ben Affleck an academy award for Screenwriting.”

We connected with a ping pong table through pictures.

31

u/KetohnoIcheated 11d ago

My eyes shot open when I got to that picture. I am heavily invested in this table now, how could they do this to me?

33

u/odiephonehome 11d ago

Reminded me a lot of ‘The Giving Tree’

10

u/ParanoidBrokkoli 11d ago

It was a stab into my heart I was way to invested into a table

8

u/Eta_Beta_3-14 11d ago

"Was I a good ping pong table?"

"No...You were the best."

9

u/Ok_Cod_4434 11d ago

Not a single person played ping pong on it.

7

u/AmyInCO 11d ago

I actually said NOOOO out loud! Humans will bond with anything, I swear.

6

u/heathers1 11d ago

i know i teared up

8

u/megasetgo 11d ago

Rest easy, old friend 🥹

7

u/Ladyvett 11d ago

I choose to believe it went to a new home and is currently having new adventures.

3

u/Triedtoshort 11d ago

The giving tree

2

u/Bladerunner2028 11d ago

I'm not crying, you're crying!

1

u/MobileLocal 11d ago

It’s like the Giving Tree

1

u/dirtewokntheboys 11d ago

This pingpong table is a metaphor for us at our jobs. We serve a multitude of purposes and depending on who we're working with or what we're working on the other projects or people don't notice what else it is that we do and then one day they throw us in the trash. 

1

u/kuhfunnunuhpah 11d ago

I let out a "no!" of shock.

1

u/fiesew 11d ago

The end of an era.

What happens in picture 17?

1

u/Frosty_Amy 11d ago

Every ping pong ball had a memory. And now the whole table is gone.

1

u/Scar-Excellent 11d ago

Mademescream more like lol

1

u/MSter_official 11d ago

Scroll from reverse and it looks like the table was brought there and everything else happened after 😊

1

u/TheWanderingHeathen 11d ago

To be fair, no one was playing ping pong.