It was a long-cherished dream to go to the DPRK. Partly out of curiosity for a secluded place, partly out of the wish to educate myself about the reality of life in a separated country. I missed the chance to visit GDR before the collapse of the political system in socialist Germany. And of course because this place is one of the last in the world to actually believe in socialist society. On the other hand I felt this would be a one of a kind chance to take pictures.
When I first arrived to the DPRK I didn’t have a clear set of images in mind that I wanted to capture. I was secretly hoping to find some of the architecture and weird arrangements that capture my attention whenever I start strolling around with my camera. For this to happen I usually do need some time in a place before these things start revealing themselves to me. For the major time of the trip we would often be driving around in our bus from spot to spot and taking strolls here and there in between.
I learned a lot about photography during my stay. The action happened sometimes right after I got my camera up. There was often very little time to adjust. I took an overall of more than 5.000 pictures from which I have finally selected around 10% to be in focus, showing a relevant part of the action or to be correctly exposed.The trip consisted of well planned visits as well as open walks in the streets.
Was everything I saw fake?
When it comes to this question I do have a very strong opinion. We went out during different times of the day. Walked as free as we would be able to and took some detours to arrive at certain locations. The peoples life you will see in Pyongyang is not staged. When I crossed the rice paddies from the Chinese border towards Pyongyang on the train from Dandong I saw actual farmers working in the fields. I would say, that the villages along the train tracks are renovated more often than the ones hiding out of sight but overall the amount of people and action didn’t feel staged to me. I guess I’m not that important after all. Staged or not, it was special to go and learn about this country firsthand.
Nonetheless there is quite a strict set of things that you can and can’t do during your walks in the city. Showing up to a location without prior organization and permission: Nope. Getting a new haircut in a regular barber shop: Nope. Getting close to local people and talk to them: Certainly yes. But the problem would be that the citizens of this country are not used to talk to foreigners let alone a 2 meter tall german approaching them with a camera in hand. So the reactions I provoked went from an irritated side eye to a bright smile to immediate hiding behind the next solid structure.
Why don’t my pictures show many people?
This is a fun thing. When I try to take pictures my attention will be to the presence of as few people inside the frame as possible, This is because it gets easier to identify a single subject within an image instead of a huge mass of people. Also the places shown in these images are not usually very crowded except on holidays and festivals. Especially Mansudae hill is a place that will not be visited by tourists anymore on a regular schedule. However I think the average citizen of the DPRK is not walking across one of the most important spots very often.
The Kim-Il-sung square provides space for up to 100.000 people. It will be hard to spot people even if you fill 10% of the space. No wonder you feel lost in here. Can you see all the small white spots painted on the floor? These are the directions where people should stand during parades to form the patterns by holding up different colored cardboards which you have certainly seen before.
Was it difficult to enter the DPRK?
I would answer yes and no. Yes because there is some paperwork upfront which you should take your time to complete. There is a tour behavior and security briefing held in Beijing before you board the train to the border town of Dandong. On top of that you have to care about entering and leaving China before and after your trip. Which means acquiring the proper visa, accommodation, etc. etc.
No, because the tour operators going to the DPRK know what they are doing. In my case YPT tours took care of almost all of the boilerplate things that have to be arranged to get this thing rolling. I found my guide Shane to be remarkable calm and accessible person that would disclose all necessary informations before we would enter a new situation. When we changed into the train to Pyongyang in Sinuiju and left towards Pyongyang I thought: That felt almost too easy. Of course he did some behind the scenes action that made it feel that smooth.
The tour itself was titled a Photography Workshop tour. I’ll spare you the details of our itinerary. If you’re interested check the website of the tour as it has all the details. I did extend my tour with a Sinuiju extension and got to an overall length of 9 nights.
Pyongyang the almost dark capital
After a certain time of the day the lights in the capital of the DPRK will be turned of in large parts except from some really important ones. The ones illuminating the portrait of the leaders and the light of the Juche tower will stay on longer. It’s interesting to see a city of more than 3 million people turn almost completely dark at night. The lack of street lights and the lack of any advertising makes the city go almost completely black at night. When you look at the country from space you can see the huge difference between China and the southern part of the country. Is this a bad thing? I don’t know about the individuals living in the city but for me the absence of light and advertising radiated a sense of calmness. Add the absence of Internet and ask yourself? Heaven or hell?
This blog post is number two in a series. Make sure to read the first part of the series Photography trip to the DPRK.
The images show only a certain aspect of this complex and unique country and are meant to be taken with a grain of salt. All informations in this article should be seen as highly subjective and do only reflect my personal opinion.