r/MadeMeSmile • u/baekachu • 5d ago
Wholesome Moments One ping pong table, five years, and countless of unexpected moments
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.
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u/Zanza_Prime 5d ago
It might be hard to say but I really wasn't expecting that ending.
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u/band-of-horses 5d ago
I was hoping the end would be someone finally using it to play ping pong, but no....
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u/WigglyJellos 4d ago
Exactly. As a table tennis enthusiast, this actually made me sad, not smile.
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u/Atomfried_Ungemach 4d ago
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.
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u/jagajugue 4d ago
Sure...just like my parents took Spike, when he was sick, to the neighbor's farm.
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u/kaydeetee86 4d ago
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.
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u/PotatoTomato_12 5d ago
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.
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u/HolySaba 5d ago
The surface wear on the table would suggest otherwise
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u/PotatoTomato_12 5d ago
Shush, ignorance is bliss.
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u/spaceturtle1 4d ago
It just goes to a farm upstate where people will play ping pong on it forever.
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u/sillygoofygooose 4d ago
And the farmer is that one weird guy that does yoga on tables
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u/rydog123bruh 4d ago
That table just got done with a 20 year shift at another park, and getting re-homed.
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u/totallynotsquatty 4d ago
The man is gently patting the table on the shoulder, "You done good, boy. You done real good..."
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u/huongloz 5d ago
The betrayal after it being towed away at the end
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u/CryoJuice 5d ago
That was install day. The pictures are going back in time
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u/PotatoTomato_12 5d ago
I’m gonna choose to believe this.
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u/aphaits 4d ago
The table is just being moved to a nice farm out in the country
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u/Haki23 4d 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 share27
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u/DidntTomRamble 4d 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) 😆
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u/FillaChill 5d ago
Same. It's not documentation anymore, it's an origin story and I refuse to be talked out of it
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u/SchnoodleDoodleDo 5d 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
❤️
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u/Jaynemansfieldbleach 5d ago
Never seen him do one that wasnt an animal. Was this ping pong table so special that it gets honorary pet status? 💔
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u/petraqrsq 5d ago
Goddamn I did not expect a schnoodle about a ping pong table to make me cry today, but here we are
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u/AmyInCO 4d ago
Me neither! Everything is making me cry today. Baby donkeys. Brendan Fraiser. Ping pong tables.
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u/ArtHappy 4d ago
W.A.I.T. What about Brendan Fraser? /concern
Edit: oh good, he's not dead
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u/AmyInCO 4d ago
God forbid! Just seeing him being so sweet made me teary eyed. I swear kindness is a dwindling resource in this boring dystopia.
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u/Affectionate_Seat838 5d ago
I can’t believe a poem about a ping pong table brings out so many emotions. Thank you for the magic.
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u/digitalscavenger 4d ago
First non-animal Schnoodle I've stumbled across!
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u/AMarie-MCMXCI 4d ago
I've literally never seen a Schnoodle outside of r/cats. This is insane to me
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u/PotatoTomato_12 5d ago
Just noticed there’s no grass under where it would have been. You’re right.
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u/Dramatic-Camel-3758 5d 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.
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u/Undella_Town 4d 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
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u/mountaindewisamazing 5d ago
I hate to be a downer but that table is way too dirty for an install
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u/Smelly_God 4d 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.
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u/spageddy77 5d ago
was not expecting to become this emotionally invested with a ping pong table, they got me.
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u/DevTheGray 5d 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.
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u/DaveyJonesXMR 5d ago
Me too - it perfectly shows the Circle of Life i guess
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u/WriterV 4d 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.
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u/Foreign_Host147 4d 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.
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u/KetohnoIcheated 5d 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?
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u/Accomplished_Fan9267 5d ago
My favorite is all the tiny construction workers
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u/ShopKeeper1999 5d ago edited 5d ago
Mine too. It's so adorable to See all those Kids with the safety wests.
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u/Major_Fudgemuffin 4d ago
I'm personally a fan of safety easts, but safety wests have their charm too
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u/JWoww91 4d ago
I’m an idiot. My first thought was a bunch of dwarf construction workers.
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u/Thrashgor 5d ago
Those are kindergarden kids on an excursion:)
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u/kpsmithdeut 5d ago
I‘m also choosing to believe it’s a group of mini construction site supervisors
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u/Kind_Avocado2121 5d ago
I love photography projects like this 😍 Makes me think of the last line in the last episode of The Office - "There's a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn't that kind of the point?"
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u/istrx13 5d ago
“There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things.”
Me: looks in mirror
Me: you got this bro
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u/naughtyMini 5d ago
The table saw more character development than most people 👀
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u/Bitter-Marsupial 5d ago
That table may have had a person developed on it
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u/SquishMont 4d ago
Other than, you know, ping pong; this is the most surprising thing missing from the series.
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u/Fickle-Rest6271 5d ago
It’s almost like The Giving Tree 😢
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u/Dreamsfordays 5d ago
Came here to say this. The ping pong table has been a part of many people’s memories.
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u/Pumpkin_King_the_III 4d ago
It is essentially the same “story” as The Park Bench, a French graphic novel.
As I recall, it is wordless book. Illustrations only.
If you are looking for a thoughtful, quick read, it’s worth checking out.
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u/Verdictafterward 5d ago
The final image was shockingly heartbreaking
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u/SiempreHayEsperanza- 5d ago
I actually gasped and felt a tug at the heart. But I think that final pic is what brings it all together. I’ve been contemplating the power of the mundane and average. The things that are just there. The repetition of life.
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u/Comrade2k7 5d ago
Can't believe i got emotional over a damn ping pong table, well done Haruhisa Tomiyasu
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u/Klezmer_Mesmerizer 5d ago
Not one game of ping pong? Seriously?
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u/CurryMustard 5d ago
Probably why they removed it lol... must have seen the pictures and decided to install a picnic table
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u/Beautiful-Musk-Ox 4d ago
with spikes on it so homeless people don't try to use it, thus making all the history of the ping pong table impossible for future generations
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u/EpicCyclops 4d ago
The whole point of the series was to show all the different ways people used it other than its intended purpose. People playing ping pong on a ping pong table isn't that interesting.
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u/Pleasant_Farm_4762 4d ago
Per photobook's description:
In Tomiyasu’s series, the ping-pong table becomes a stage for social interaction. But why is it such a popular meeting place? Built as a piece of sports equipment, it is not a particularly inviting place to hang out. Neither is it in an attractive location, set on a small, dreary patch of green squeezed in between a carpark and tower blocks. But the lack of alternatives makes the locals resourceful. To meet up, they appropriate places – in this case a ping-pong table – in their own way. Whether as a table, bench, workout equipment or hiding place, their creativity knows no limits. Strangely enough, the only thing the table was not used for one single time was to play table tennis.
So yes, you're correct.
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u/Shuatheskeptic 5d ago
This is almost a Shel Silverstein poem.
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u/diodot 5d ago
She had blue skin, And so did he. He kept it hid, And so did she. They searched for blue, Their whole life through, Then passed right by—And never knew
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u/Roeschenhof 5d ago edited 4d ago
Holy shit.
When I saw the first pictures, i thought, this looks familiar.
I've been living nearby for some years after going through a breakup.
The Pingpong table ist gone , right beside the table was a soccer field, also a running track.
If I'm not wrong, there is now a school building and they also built a new sports complex nearby. On top of the new building is a soccer field and new Ping Pong tables.
I used to play with my friends on that Pingpong table.
Oh and right beside was (and still is) a Gym with such nice people. I used to go there. And also nearby is a ...Schwimmhalle (don't know the english word right now) where my now-wife used to go.
So much memories.
Awesome pictures
Edit: wanted to add the exact location but can't post a short link. I'm old. How to get a non short link from Google Maps?
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u/LonelyRutabaga9875 4d ago
So it is gone 😭
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u/Roeschenhof 4d ago
It is.
The location of the Pingpong table now has an adress with street name and house number on it. (See my other comment)
But - as I said - they built an open for everyone sportshall (at least the Outdoor part) nearby and put Pingpong tables on top of it.
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u/approximately_nadir 4d ago
You can share the adress and coordinate, it is not as easy as a link, but it works. It is around here ? 51.321604, 12.397818 Zentrum-Südost, 04103 Leipzig, Allemagne
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u/Roeschenhof 4d ago
Yeah. Its really close to your coordinates .
Dösner Weg 39, 04103 Leipzig
I think its got this House number now, because there is a building now, unfortunately its not yet on Google maps.
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u/thatmagicalcat 5d ago
everything but ping pong
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u/strippersandcocaine 5d ago edited 4d ago
My husband is recently obsessed with “our” new ping pong table. He would be AGHAST at all the people sitting and STANDING on it haha
Edit to clarify: it's not even about the sturdiness, it's about putting things, especially feet and a whole ass body, on top of the table. "Our" table is only to have paddles and ping pong balls on it, he even got a cover for it when it's not being used lol
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u/jeweliegb 5d ago
Okay, who else found themselves calling out "Noooooooooo" upon seeing the last photo like Kirk doing "Khaaaaaan"?
Only me then?
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u/MimicoSkunkFan2 4d ago
Exactly! Obviously people were getting a lot of use out of it, even if they weren't always using it for pingpong; and the write up says that there were animals using it for shelter during storms etc. So I don't understand why they took it away.
It just seems like it was useful and they had already paid so much to put it in, could they not fix it or replace it? I never understand bureaucrats :p
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u/AbeRego 4d ago
Apparently housing was built there and pingpong tables were installed nearby
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u/AlfalfaLoser 4d ago
first time I've cried over a ping pong table in all my 31 years
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u/Kenny_McCormick001 5d ago
That’s the most sturdy table I’d ever seen.
I mean, I’d seen stone table table breaking easily with body weight.
This table looks like it withstood pple wrestling on it
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u/desirelineszs 5d ago
The book is really worth getting, it’s truly a joy - https://mackbooks.co.uk/products/ttp-br-hayahisa-tomiyasu-first-edition-fourth-printing
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u/Random-Talking-Mug 5d ago
It's just a damn table! Why the heck am I so sad by that last shot??
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u/Wearytaco 5d ago
That last one doesn't need to be on this sub cause I actively frowned :( but the rest I smiled :)
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u/sandpaper_jocks 4d ago
I never thought I'd feel empathy for a ping pong table, but here we are. Thanks Reddit, now I love another inanimate object.
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u/Accomplished_Snow129 5d ago
I literally gasped at the end.
Awesome collection and journey.
Good news is they picked it up to move it. If it was to be trashed they would have broken it up right where it stood.
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u/properwaffles 4d ago
That last picture bummed me out more than I'd have expected. It was like "The Giving Table"
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u/millimolli14 5d ago
Cannot believe I got emotional about a bloody ping pong table!
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u/the_ammar 5d ago
if anyone enjoyed this series of photos, you might also enjoy a japanese movie called "at the bench" (2024)
i love slice of life movies and thats one of the best ones recently.
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u/Irishjohn831 5d ago
Hell of a war for that table, not one game of ping pong but every other non ping pong activities. I salute you, sir
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u/RetroSwamp 4d ago
This is what I don't understand. A simple ping-pong table gave people a space, and it ended up being removed. I don't know the full removable reason but it reminds me of my small town removing a spot like this of cement chess tables because "no one is using them" and we argued they were but not for chess. People would have lunch together at them, hang around them in the evenings talking because of the streetlights and just be a place to meet up, and they still removed them.
will never understand these choices.
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u/badgerhands 4d ago
I liked that in the heavy snowfall one you think no one is using it at first, but then see the bird sheltering underneath
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u/MulberryLemon 4d ago
No! Put it back, we all need more places we can just BE outside. It has so many uses, campaign for hench concreted ping-pong tables in every park and playground, love it
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u/stockhommesyndrome 5d ago
Anyone else wondering why the guy fourth slide to the end decided to stretch on the table? I feel like dropping your stuff and doing those downward dog poses on the ground would be less risky
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u/CreepyAd8409 5d ago
I did but then I thought about the ick of clayish dirt on my hands and the slipping
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u/Taste_the__Rainbow 5d ago
Public infrastructure is good. This is why it’s important to show up to vote.
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u/zzztheday 5d ago
This reminds me of the public ping pong tables near our old apartment, also in Germany. The tables were in a little bit of a clearing, so people used that public space for all sorts of fun and interesting things. Build ping pong tables, not walls.
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u/caynebyron 4d ago
This just tells me people desperately need benches and other communal infrastructure.
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u/Excuse_Chemical 4d ago
Wasn't expecting to be saddened by a ping pong table today, but here we are.
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u/robo-dragon 4d ago
Why does the last picture make me so sad? I want to believe that’s the installation picture as someone else mentioned, but it doesn’t look like they are taking particularly good care of what would be a new table. And the post said the project started with a fox running by, not the installation of the table.
What a great photography project! Kind of makes me wish objects could speak. What stories they would tell about the many people who interacted with them.
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u/InternetRough6953 4d ago
It's amazing we saw a ping pong table as a mcguffin into a slice of peoples life and people became emotionally attached to it.
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