Rose Bowl Flea Market • Pasadena, CA

Date: 12-09-12
Location: Pasadena, CA.
Photography by: Luis Valdizon
Words by: David Morris

As a kid, I dreaded going to antique malls and flea markets with my parents. Back then, it was boring - who wanted to look through a bunch of old junk when there was a new video game out? It's interesting that as a child, you are typically entranced with the new, but as you grow and mature you begin to become fascinated with the old. That's how it panned out for me, anyway. These days, I prefer things that have withstood the test of time - that goes for clothing styles and cars, as well as music. I like things that take you to a different time period while still relating to modern-day life.

After I graduated from adolescence, one of my favorite things to do in my spare time became shopping at flea markets and antique stores. Sure, it's become trendy over the past couple of years, but for me, rummaging through old and forgotten items has long been a means through which I put things into perspective. It shows that some things are only lost because they are waiting to be found. It shows that one man's trash really can be another man's treasure, and some things really do get better with age. It shows that what goes around, comes around; if it's good enough, it will either come back into style or be a key influence on a new trend. It shows that what once was new may now be old and outdated, but there is beauty in that. There is beauty in re-discovery. There is beauty in new and continued life.

I try to make it to the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena, CA every month. Each time I do, I seem to find and learn something new. Life is a game of separating the real from the fake. Whether it be sorting through old items, visiting a historic landmark, reading an article about the past or listening to a song written 50 years ago, taking time to appreciate things that have been around longer than social media, modern technology and even myself help me escape from the present and think about the forever.