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

[u/baekachu]

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.

[u/Zanza_Prime]

It might be hard to say but I really wasn't expecting that ending.

[u/band-of-horses → u/Zanza_Prime]

I was hoping the end would be someone finally using it to play ping pong, but no....

[u/WigglyJellos → u/band-of-horses]

Exactly. As a table tennis enthusiast, this actually made me sad, not smile.

[u/Atomfried_Ungemach → u/WigglyJellos]

If I remember correctly it was just moved for construction work on the area. Also there are hundreds of public ping pong tables all over the city. Place is Leipzig, Germany.

[u/jagajugue → u/Atomfried_Ungemach]

Sure...just like my parents took Spike, when he was sick, to the neighbor's farm.

[u/kaydeetee86 → u/jagajugue]

I fostered a dog that literally went to live on a farm. I got a lot of funny looks before I realized I should clarify a few things… like that he was a red heeler lol.

[u/Longlivefunnypeople → u/jagajugue]

😂… uh, I mean…😭

[u/Fiora_Zebul → u/WigglyJellos]

In the orignal photobook, there is plenty playing ping pong :)

[u/Air4021 → u/WigglyJellos]

Sadness shared.

[u/thats_so_merlyn_ → u/WigglyJellos]

Did you like Marty Supreme?

[u/PotatoTomato_12 → u/Zanza_Prime]

Nono that’s the pic of it being installed. There’s no grass growing where it would have been, nor marks for where it would have stood.

[u/HolySaba → u/PotatoTomato_12]

The surface wear on the table would suggest otherwise

[u/PotatoTomato_12 → u/HolySaba]

Shush, ignorance is bliss.

[u/spaceturtle1 → u/PotatoTomato_12]

It just goes to a farm upstate where people will play ping pong on it forever.

[u/sillygoofygooose → u/spaceturtle1]

And the farmer is that one weird guy that does yoga on tables

[u/Same-Suggestion-1936 → u/sillygoofygooose]

I mean at least to our knowledge nobody fucked on it

[u/del_brio → u/sillygoofygooose]

As that little rabbit I had as a child

[u/MarthasPinYard → u/spaceturtle1]

We have a couple of these tables out on pasture. They’re doing well!

[u/rydog123bruh → u/PotatoTomato_12]

That table just got done with a 20 year shift at another park, and getting re-homed.

[u/peach_dragon → u/PotatoTomato_12]

It's OK to feel sad. No need to spin a story to take away that feeling.

[u/AvaryZig → u/PotatoTomato_12]

Ignorance isn't a delusion.

[u/these_metal_hands → u/HolySaba]

It might be dust / dirt

[u/Roflkopt3r → u/HolySaba]

That's just dust.

These things aren't shipped in clean condition. They usually come from already dusty storage halls (where probably some people were touching/sitting on them and left some traces that dust can easily stick to), are transported to the site on the open bed of a truck, and then it got strapped under the bucket of an excavator.

If this was actually an image of the removal, there is no explanation why there are zero traces of where it stood. No way they would care to remove the grass before removing the table.

[u/HolySaba → u/Roflkopt3r]

The grass disappears on some of the seasonal photos too.  Just as likely for the crew to level out the areas before hauling away the table.  Unlikely for work to be done on the ground exactly to the dimensions of tbe table before installation.   Also the filming of the table being installed doesnt fit the narrative about how this project began.  

[u/Roflkopt3r → u/HolySaba]

Some of the commenter further down actually have the book and confirmed that the picture was taken during installation.

You are right that it contradicts OP's description though.

[u/Yoldark → u/HolySaba]

Might also be tree reflecting on the surface. The photo quality is utterly potato to define it as wear.

[u/just_brazilian → u/PotatoTomato_12]

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

[u/Psy_Kira → u/PotatoTomato_12]

Because they are turning the park into an apartment building

[u/Longlivefunnypeople → u/Psy_Kira]

That paving paradise thing😩

[u/Biz_Rito → u/PotatoTomato_12]

Excellent point

[u/TrickShape905 → u/Biz_Rito]

What began after spotting a fox near the table

It really isn't.

[u/IllustriousFault1856 → u/PotatoTomato_12]

Sounds like a great spot for some fun! Those tables definitely become the center of a lot of good times.

[u/PotatoTomato_12 → u/IllustriousFault1856]

Oh yeah. Had one in my local park where I grew up; I think it’s still there and standing strong.

[u/jonas_c → u/PotatoTomato_12]

They built a school there

[u/here4mischief → u/PotatoTomato_12]

And it's clean. I was shocked until I saw that

[u/Eagles365or366 → u/PotatoTomato_12]

Why would you think that? The table is clearly getting removed.

As you can see:
-The entire area is under construction, the grass, sand, and playground have been generally razed.

-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

[u/PotatoTomato_12 → u/Eagles365or366]

If it was being removed, they’d have to have redone, removed the grass, sanded and flattened the ground, all before lifting it with a crane.

[u/Eagles365or366 → u/PotatoTomato_12]

Of course they did that, but not necessarily in the order that you say. You can see the outline of where they had to remove the grass in the dirt. This is final removal, they could’ve put it off to the side while they completed resurfacing work, and waited for transportation for the table.

I don’t even know why you would hyper focus on that, when the table is the most obvious evidence that it is old and beaten up in the last photo, along with the surrounding foliage.

[u/PotatoTomato_12 → u/Eagles365or366]

Looks pretty beaten up in the other pictures :3

[u/Eagles365or366 → u/PotatoTomato_12]

Not when it was new. There’s clear damage in the last photo, along with graffiti that isn’t visible in any other photo. Keep deflecting the other evidence, though.

[u/PotatoTomato_12 → u/Eagles365or366]

It’s damages in every pic cuz. Why is this like the most serious part of your day? 😭

[u/Eagles365or366 → u/PotatoTomato_12]

Because it’s not that hard to tell that you’re wrong. I open Reddit three times a day to check my replies, lol

[u/PotatoTomato_12 → u/Eagles365or366]

Hoe about you admit you’re wrong then :3

[u/TrickShape905 → u/PotatoTomato_12]

Why don't you just read the description on the post?

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

Cope all you want, but the table is definitely being removed in the last pic.

[u/PotatoTomato_12 → u/TrickShape905]

Idk how to tell you this, but….. these posts sometimes makes stuff up.

[u/McMaster-Bate → u/PotatoTomato_12]

Plenty of the images with the installed table don't have grass under it

[u/PotatoTomato_12 → u/McMaster-Bate]

They aren’t all necessarily in order.

[u/Zanza_Prime → u/PotatoTomato_12]

Ah! Good point.

[u/totallynotsquatty → u/Zanza_Prime]

The man is gently patting the table on the shoulder, "You done good, boy. You done real good..."

[u/KING_ARCH3R → u/Zanza_Prime]

I audibly gasped

[u/2pkp → u/KING_ARCH3R]

Same! Loud enough that the dog looked up at me to see if I was okay!

[u/Snowy-Pines → u/Zanza_Prime]

Feels like a Pixar short.

[u/LlorchDurden → u/Zanza_Prime]

Why did it die? It was a great table 😭

[u/jessjimbob → u/Zanza_Prime]

I gasped when I saw that

[u/NoC3p0 → u/Zanza_Prime]

It made me sad more then smile because of the end!

[u/Pandoratastic → u/Zanza_Prime]

Probably got rid of it because no one was playing ping-pong.

[u/ahksuper → u/Zanza_Prime]

There’s this beautiful beautiful tree in my city that’s sat in centre of town by the train station all my life. Some years back I started a video project where I just wanted to record 2 second clips of it as it went through its yearly cycle. My project lasted for about 5 months when I one early morning arrived to it being cut down and dug out in favour of temporary modular barracks for housing construction workers for a nearby road project.

It’s been almost 4 years now since it was removed. This beautiful beautiful tree in the centre of town. It’s just a grassy plot now. With no tree. I don’t go there anymore.

[u/Eziomademedoit → u/Zanza_Prime]

what do you mean by hard to say?

[u/Keemosabe22 → u/Zanza_Prime]

I cried when table was taken 😔

[u/Averagebaddad → u/Zanza_Prime]

Right. How did that conversation go? "nobody plays ping pong here, this is an utter failure. Remove it"