Jamsil from the West Shore of Seokchon Lake

A place to see the city

There are places in Seoul I go to see trees, grass or the Han River. I go to Seokchon Lake to see the city. The tower catches my eye before the surface of the water does. Then the trees, amusement rides and people using the path begin to fill in around it.

From Jamsil Station, walk through Lotte World Mall and out into daylight. The ceiling and indoor lights give way to a stretch of water. After the turns and levels of the mall, that sudden space feels like a pause in the city. I often find myself on the lakeside path before I have made a decision about where to go.

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Toward the West Lake

Songpa-daero divides the water into the East and West lakes. The West Lake brings you close to Lotte World’s Magic Island. Rides and their rails take up the foreground. Farther off, Lotte World Tower draws your eye up, making the rides look like pieces of a much smaller city.

The path is level and wide, with a view that stays open as you walk. I find myself slowing down without having to stop. A circuit of the lake is enough of a destination.

It was winter and the path was quiet without being empty. Someone was running, somebody else had brought a dog, and there were people on the phone or taking pictures. I could see how the lake belongs to the people who pass it every day as well as to visitors who come looking for the view.

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A city reflected in the water

The water brings the buildings into the picture twice. The tower appears upside down, and the lake becomes a second place to watch what is happening above it.

In daylight, the glass face catches the sun. A small breeze breaks up the reflection, and the shadow of a moving ride travels across the surface. I could stand in one place and make several different pictures as the water changed.

The southwest stretch of the path gives me a way to fit the tower, the rides and the water into one frame. From there the photograph can show how their scales fit together.

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When the lights come on

Near sunset, the change happens quickly. The tower lights come on, the rides begin to glow, and the water takes on as much light as it can hold.

The people I had watched walking begin to stop at the railing. Some raise a phone. Others stay there for a minute. It is a night view that can interrupt the trip home without anybody having to set out for a lookout.

The same stretch of water belongs to people who came to Jamsil for a day out and people who can see the tower on their way back from work.

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What the lake brings into one view

The lake took its present form through a Han River reclamation project, in an area once used by the Songpa ferry. What began as a consequence of reshaping the river has become a place from which to see what grew up around it.

There are many places to see the tower by itself. From this shore I can also see the rides, the walkway and the surface that keeps changing as all of them are reflected. That is the view of Jamsil I remember.