Body
This blog has sometimes been hard on photojournalism on North Korea (for example, here). But when it is done well—neither extolling nor patronizing—you can learn something. David Guttenfelder’s interactive portfolio for the New York Times called Six Days in North Korea is both fascinating in itself and links to other great work Guttenfelder has done. The former New York Times photographer—now a National Geographic fellow—has been to North Korea over forty times, with a record going back to Madeline Albright’s 2000 trip to the country. As the regime has gradually liberalized the ability to photograph he has expanded from still photography to short video montages and the use Twitter, Foursquare and particularly Instagram. His Instagram feed caught on and includes an incredible series called “North Korea artifacts”--a bottle cap, a used Koryo Air ticket, a box of matches—the small things that make up the physical texture of life. In one surprisingly striking picture he simply captures a half a dozen women’s swimsuits on sale at a Pyongyang boutique.
But perhaps best is his Every Day DPRK feed, with its striking pictures not only of Pyonyang—and it's illusions—but the countryside and provinces as well. Again, the simplest pictures are often the most affecting: kids on bikes and skates in Pyongyang, soldiers taking pictures using a new smartphone, fields after harvest. As we worry about the nominally big issues--nuclear weapons and crimes against a humanity--a little humanization can't hurt. A great way to while away an hour or two.
