Sunday, 11 May 2014

Haunting pictures inside North Korea... taken by a photographer who has now ...


  • Photographer Eric Lafforgue took the ‘banned’ images during a visit to North Korea earlier this year

  • Forbidden subjects include malnourished people, child labourers and a man collecting grass to eat

  • Other photos that incurred the wrath of the regime included a shot of soldiers pushing a broken-down bus

  • Lafforgue says poverty is rare in Pyongyang because only the elite live there but things are tough elsewhere


By

Ruth Styles



Published:


13:18, 9 May 2014




|
Updated:


16:33, 9 May 2014



From children working hard in the fields to a group of soldiers pushing a broken-down bus, these are the photographs that North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, didn’t want you to see.


Taken by photographer Eric Lafforgue during what would prove to be his final visit to the rogue state, the images reveal the shocking extent of the deprivation suffered by the people who live there.


Lafforgue, who has now been banned from North Korea, took the pictures while in the company of state-approved guides and was asked to delete each of the images but managed to save them on his memory card.


Scroll down for video


Multi-purpose:


Multi-purpose:

‘The North Korean army is said to be one of the most important in the

world. But if you travel there, you’ll often see soldiers doing menial

tasks’


Unamused:


Unamused:

‘The officials hate it when you take this kind of picture. Even when I

explained that poverty exists everywhere, they still forbade me from

taking them’



Child labour:


Child

labour: ‘When times are hard (as they usually are here), children can

be found working for the farming collectives,’ explains Lafforgue



Shocking:


Thin: Malnutrition is not uncommon among children, many of whom were born during the famine in the 90s and in the early noughties


Shocking: ‘North Korean officials forbid you to photograph anyone suffering from malnutrition like this man or this little boy’



Not allowed: It is forbidden to take pictures of North Korean people if they are not well dressed. For my guide this man was not well dressed enough to be photographed


Not

allowed: It is forbidden to take pictures of North Korean people if

they are not well dressed. For my guide this man was not well dressed

enough to be photographed’


Scraps:


Scraps:

‘I spotted these kids collecting maize grains in the streets near

Begaebong,’ explains Lafforgue of this surreptitious shot


Fascinatingly,

not all show the poverty that the North Korean leadership is so keen to

hide. Others offer a glimpse of the country’s bomb shelter tube stations, dilapidated

buildings and draconian clothing regulation.



Others

show children smiling and laughing beneath portraits of Kim Jong Un and

his father Kim Jong Il – an act considered incredibly disrespectful by

the regime.


‘Every

visitor is warned not to take photos without the consent of the guides

as soon as they arrive in Pyongyang,’ explains Lafforgue. ‘But in

reality, it’s impossible for them to monitor everything, especially when

travelling with groups.


‘They

insist that you don’t take photos of anything to do with the military

and anything that could suggest poverty – even when you explain to them

that it exists all over the world and even in France.


‘In

Pyongyang, as only the elite is allowed to live there, you don’t see

real poverty but as soon as you get out into the countryside, it’s a

completely different story.’


Unique:


Unique:

‘A woman standing in the middle of a crowd of soldiers. This picture

was not supposed to be taken as officials do not allow pictures of the

army’



Break-down: North Korea is touchy about images showing the military.


Break-down:

North Korea is touchy about images showing the military. ‘You see this

all the time in North Korea, but aren’t allowed to take pictures,’ says

Lafforgue



No photos!


No

photos! ‘Taking pictures in the demilitarised zone (between North and

South Korea) is easy, but if you come too close to the soldiers, they

stop you’


Not allowed: Taking photos of soldiers relaxing, such as this photograph of two men enjoying a sneaky cigarette, is not allowed in North Korea


Not

allowed: Taking photos of soldiers relaxing, such as this photograph of

two men enjoying a sneaky cigarette, is not allowed in North Korea


Bizarre:


Bizarre:

‘When visiting the dolphinarium in Pyongyang, you are allowed to

photograph the animals, but not the soldiers who make up 99 per cent of

the crowd!’


Enraged: The North Korean regime hates photos that show soldiers resting.


Enraged:

The North Korean regime hates photos that show soldiers resting. ‘This

picture really contributed to me getting banned from the country,’ says

Lafforgue


But even

in Pyongyang, signs of poverty are all too apparent. Images that reveal

the extent of the regular power shortages, which the regime blames on

‘American imperialists’, and the crumbling interiors of the outwardly

well-maintained apartment blocks speak clearly of deprivation.


In the countryside, the sight of people picking grass and children working in the fields are regular occurrences. ‘The guides tell you that they [the children] work in

the fields in the same way that teenagers here have summer jobs,’ adds Lafforgue.


‘The

difference is that in Europe they are paid, while in North Korea, it is a collective

duty. I must say that they always seemed

“happy” and didn’t appear to be miserable. But the gap between poverty and

patriotic enthusiasm is a narrow one.’


In

a bid to prevent visitors from capturing photos deemed ‘unacceptable’

by the regime, state minders often attempt to confiscate the cameras

owned by their charges.


Cold shower: A man bathes in the river in the countryside outside Pyongyang.


Cold

shower: A man bathes in the river in the countryside outside Pyongyang.

‘Once you get into rural areas, this sort of thing is very common,’

says Lafforgue



Fishing:


Fishing:

‘This man was using an old tyre for a boat. In the countryside, people

often fish in small lakes – it’s a way to get fresh food in remote areas

where it’s rare’



Hunger:


Hunger: ‘My camera was confiscated for the duration of the bus trip to Chongjin which suffered in the famine. Once I saw the people in the street, I understood why’



Snooze:


Snooze: ‘This man was taking a rest by the sea in Chilbo. My guide asked me to delete this for fear that Western media would say this man was dead. He was alive’



Poverty:


Poverty:

‘In Kaesong near the demilitarised zone, you are locked in an hotel

complex made of old houses. The guides say it’s the same outside the

hotel. No, it’s not.’


Not impressed:


Not impressed: ‘This kind of picture is widespread in the West. The caption often points out that North Koreans have to eat grass. The guides get furious if you take it’



Duty:


Duty:

‘People go to the country to do public projects. The regime used to see

shots like these as positive but now they know that we interpret this

as forced labour’




No flash:


No

flash: ‘As we passed by these old buildings, the guides asked me not to

shoot with flash. The official reason was “to avoid scaring people”’



Paranoia:


Paranoia:

‘North Koreans are very paranoid. I was asked to delete the picture

since the guides were certain I would have said those people were

homeless – they were just resting’


Forbidden: The regime considers pictures showing smiles under portraits of the leadership to be disrespectful.


Forbidden:

The regime considers pictures showing smiles under portraits of the

leadership to be disrespectful. ‘Never take a picture where you can see

people doing silly things in front of the Kim portraits,’ says Lafforgue



Rare:


Rare:

‘Although cars are becoming widespread in Pyongyang, peasants aren’t

used to seeing them. Kids play in the middle of the road just like when

they didn’t exist’






more videos



Luxury:


Luxury: ‘You can find all kinds of food and drink in Pyongyang’s two supermarkets. They even have Evian water but only the elite can shop there’


Blackout:


Blackout: ‘We were in Pyongyang art gallery when we experienced a power outage. When it happens, they tell you it’s because of the American embargo’



Irritating:


Irritating: ‘Perhaps the most ridiculous prohibition of all. When I took the picture, everyone yelled at me. Since the painting was unfinished, I couldn’t take the picture’



Scared:


Scared:

‘You are supposed to see fun at the Songdowon Children’s Camp but some

come from the country and are scared of escalators which they’ve never

seen before’



‘The best solution for the guides is to

confiscate our cameras,’ says Lafforgue. ‘On the way to Chonjin, a new town opened up to tourists

three years ago, they just took my cameras and put them in a

bag they kept. They can be very smart sometimes.’


But despite their best efforts, Lafforgue did manage to take these photos and as a result, has been banned from returning to North Korea by regime officials.


‘I was disappointed as I think I tried to

show more than just the clichés you hear about this country,’ says Lafforgue of his travel ban. ‘I was trying to speak to

people, let them talk, show they are not robots and that they have families and a lot of culture.


‘I tried to document North Korea in the same way I would any other country in the world, but for them to accept it, you really need to follow their rules and for me, some of those rules just weren’t acceptable.’


Odd:


Odd:

‘Officials took issue with this photo for two reasons: The teen is

wearing his cap in a strange way (according to my guide), and there are

soldiers in the background’


Multipurpose:


Multipurpose:

‘Pyongyang’s subway system is the deepest in the world as it doubles as

a bomb shelter. I was told to delete this photo because it includes the

tunnel’


Smarten up!


Smarten

up! ‘The way you dress is very important in North Korea. When I asked

to take a picture of these students, the girl insisted that the man

straighten his shirt’


Ridiculous:


Ridiculous:

‘When you visit families, the guides love it if you take photos to show

that kids have computers. But when they see there’s no power, they ask

you to delete!’


Exhausted:


Exhausted:

‘You see a lot of tired people on the roadside, since many have to ride

their bikes for hours to get to work. Taking pictures of them is

forbidden.’



Eking a living: Although the regime has cracked down on the black market, the


Eking

a living: Although the regime has cracked down on the black market, the

‘grey market’, to which officials turn a blind eye, allow some to

scratch a living



Reparation:


Reparation:

‘North Korea says foreign aid is a war debt, but taking photos of the

WFP sign through the window of a house in a village is forbidden’


Tough:


Tough:

‘A rare example of an undisciplined kid in North Korea. The bus was

driving in the small roads of Samijyon in the north, when this boy stood

in the road’




Patient:


Patient:

‘Queuing is a national sport for North Koreans,’ says Lafforgue. This

photo shows people waiting for a chance to catch the bus to work



Capital living:


Capital

living: ‘Pyongyang is the showcase of North Korea, so building

exteriors are carefully maintained. When you look inside, the truth

becomes apparent’








Comments (862)


Share what you think



The comments below have not been moderated.





Shamk,


Birmingham, United Kingdom,


16 hours ago


The people who are standing beneath the picture of the king would be killed by now saying its disrespectful to be smiling under the potraits of the dictators. They will be found by the guards and sentenced to death probably, I hope not. Also all the other people in the pictures :(





Communism-is-cool,


Melbourne, Australia,


21 hours ago


NUKE-erific!





UKIP for Me,


East of England, United Kingdom,


1 day ago


But putting aside all these comments , who really cares..





areujealous,


london,


1 day ago


they look far happier than the people I meet in LONDON TRAINS…talk about misery!






Emily,


somewhere, United States,


1 day ago


So basically they only want you to take pictures of things they deem to show the countries good characteristics? Why do the tour guides even waste their breaths, the world knows what North Korea is all about.





PeeBee,


Liverpool,


1 day ago


It’s such a positive thing that this is getting some publicity. The more this is in the news, the more North Korean officials will be panicking. It’s so disgraceful that they can get away with this.





julius ringel III,


tokyo, Japan,


1 day ago


The reality of Communism. Should be mandatory viewing for all the foolish idiots who wear che guevara t-shirts .





Srztanjur,


Staten Island, United States,


17 hours ago


Fascism*





Srztanjur,


Staten Island, United States,


17 hours ago


Fascism*





blue911s,


London, United Kingdom,


1 day ago


Ridiculous regime, led by an idiot.





Moe-26,


Luton, United Kingdom,


1 day ago


One of the few countries prepared to fight the evil USA. Long live Kim!





rob,


MILTON KEYNES, United Kingdom,


1 day ago


Oh dear, you really think so don’t you?





null,


1 day ago


Looks like Dagenham but with better weather .



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