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Marketplace, the most recent in the World Wide Panorama series of events, held every three months, was held the weekend of the Equinox, March 20, first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere. Participating photographers were free to choose any interpretation of the theme "marketplace" that appealed to them, from actual local farmer's markets to abstract concepts of marketplaces of ideas. Given the theme, it’s no wonder the entries show consumption in one form or another; but it was an interesting exercise to realize how we are so immersed in transactions in our daily life. It was also a thought provoking exercise on how we spend our idle time, the nature of marketplaces and how they’ve changed over time (Wal-Mart pushing out small independent retailers), and newer virtual markets, and the impact they have on our consumption patterns (think E-Bay).

Alex Makienko: Maple Syrup Farm
	Alex Makienko was visiting Fulton's Pancake House Maple Syrup Farm, near Pakenham, Ontario, Canada. Every eastern Canadian schoolchild has been on one of these excursions as tapping maple syrup in the late winter/early spring is a long-time tradition in Ontario and Quebec. It’s a tradition that began in the early 1800s when the aboriginal people taught the pioneers how to collect sap and make syrup, Maikenko notes. “These lands now belong to Lanark County, Ontario and are known as the Canadian Maple Syrup Capital … The Fulton family began making syrup on their farm in the mid 1840's and this farm still belongs to this family. Now it is not just a farm but also a historical site where you may spend the whole day with your family, taste a different kinds of syrup made with original technology, see how the sap had been collected over 100 years ago, take a horse-drawn hayride and enjoy an old time music.”
Dan Ruettimann: Clark’s Drug Store
	This panorama evokes a by-gone era in the 40s or 50s; one can imagine Lana Turner sitting on a stool waiting to be discovered. “Clark Pharmacy is on the route of the old Santa Fe Trail. Located in the Hopper General Merchandise Store built in the 1880s, Clark's is one of a handful of remaining authentic soda fountains in Kansas,” Ruettimann writes.
Jerzy Zamora: Patchwork Place, Katowice, Poland
	Jerzy Zamora was in Katowice, Poland, and put together a panorama collage of the sights, and sounds, of the city, located in Poland’s industrial heartland to the south.
Sean Tamblyn: Oaxacan Meat Market, Mexico
	Many in Oaxaca, Mexico were at the meat market, either hawking their wares or stocking up on dinner supplies. Tamblym describes the smell of barbecuing meat permeating the air as “shafts of sunlight streak down through the haze of a dozen smoldering coal fires … the small round sausages are chorizo, and lunch next to the Coca Cola fridge will set you back about 30 pesos.”
Andy Alpern: Bedouin Goat Market, Be’er Sheva, Israel
	You’ll actually hear this pano before you see it. The sound of the goats neighing or breighing or whatever the sound is called that goats make, and the people murmuring, perhaps bartering, in the background, really places you smack dab in the location. Be'er Sheva is the largest town in the Negev Desert, which comprises the entire southern half of Israel. Every Thursday is Bedouin market day here. Alpern: “This market is actually the remnant of what was once probably a much bigger market. ‘Modern’ Be'er Sheva (formerly Bir Seb'a in Arabic) dates back to the Ottoman Turkish period. In the 1880’s, it was the administrative center of the Negev Bedouin tribes. These days, with modernization and the decreased reliance on agriculture for income, the animal market has shrunk considerably.”
CB ArunKumar: Fruit Seller, Mayur Vihar Market, New Delhi, India
	In New Delhi, C.B. Arunkumar got the shoot dates slightly mixed up and ran out on the eve of the last day to capture the fruit market. The fruit looks so ripe and luscious and vivid you feel as if you could just reach out and grab one.
Jesse Lee: One of the Largest Flower Markets in Beijing, China
	Lee: “Beijing Laitai Flower Market, one of the largest flower markets in Beijing, located at Laitai Flower Street, northern third circle road, 20 km to Beijing International Airport. There are also a lot of other small sized flower shops along the Laitai Flower Street. The street is more than 300 meters in length, and occupies the area of 12,000 square meters.”
Ralph Green: Toys R Us, Times Square, New York City
	And last, the grand dame of marketplaces: the Toys R Us megastore in Manhattan. What I find most interesting about this is the look on the shopper’s faces, most of whom are staring at the dinosaur; most of the kids have a look of wonder or enjoyment but the two Asian woman look perplexed, perhaps they can’t understand what the fuss is about. Green reports that over the last three years the Toys R Us 110,00 square foot Times Square store has become one of NYC’s top tourist destinations. “The store has many unusual features for a retail store. Shown here are the five-ton, 20 ft. high, 34-ft. long animatronic T-Rex dinosaur and Lego sculptures of the Emipre State building and Statue of Liberty. Toys “R” Us Times Square is also home to a working 60-ft. ferris wheel and a two-story high Barbie doll house.”

The World Wide Panorama series of events, sponsored by the Geography Computing Facility at the University of California Berkeley, is now starting a second year of quarterly events.