State Fair photo mystery solved

Can we get a little bit of love for the Star Tribune today? Specifically, for reporter Liz Sawyer who has solved the mystery caused by this photo, uploaded to Facebook on Sunday by award-winning 17-year-old photographer Gabrielle Bremer of Barnum.

Photo: Gabrielle Bremer | Through the Lens Photography

Via Reddit, the picture — as the kids and tapped-out headline writers say — went viral.

But what was the story here? A dying love? A frustration with the addiction to a smartphone?

It was, Sawyer found, much more serious than any of the imagined scenarios.

He didn’t have any money for Dippin’ Dots.