Day 31: Gen Z Peace

2026-03-09

Limited permission was granted to use photos taken for these events on this site.

Back at the Lunar New Year celebration...

Hello!

Hey now — I know that the peace sign (or V sign) is not a gesture reserved for Generation Z or Generation Alpha.

But I'd like to call your attention to a Vox article on the peace sign as a photo pose. It's an interesting read, and I won't try to summarize it here, but it's clear that the sign is common today, for better or for worse.

I'm sure the guy in the photo making the peace sign didn't sign up for a whole inspection of his natural photo-posing instincts — although I know the guy, and I bet he doesn't care — but I'll send this article to him for his response.

It seems that many photos of mine are captured on a whim. This photo isn't one of them. In order to both get something unique and to show off my photo-taking abilities, I led my mates to the crowd and found a high chair to get a special vantage point. People were lining up to get Lunar New Year celebration food, made from the event organizers group and prepared a few hours prior to serving it.

I knew that if nothing else, I could get a reasonable picture of the crowd at scale. But the guy in black noticed me and held up those iconic peace signs.

This kind of photo would fail if I was unfamiliar with the space and the people. I had advantages in this case, being a student of this high school for a few years and knowing the student body. Would the guy pose for the camera for an unfamiliar photographer, even if they were a professional? I think not.

Thank you for visiting this blog! Special thanks to the newsletter subscribers; you get this photo a week before the internet does :-).

Cheers,
David