User:Svevafossati/sandbox

Photojournalism in North Korea

Photojournalism is a form of journalism in which a story is told primarily through photographs and other images.

North Korea

North Korea is ruled under a dictatorship by leader, Kim Jong-un. The secretive nature of the country stems from the nationalist ideology Juche (self reliance) which was brought upon the country by Kim Il Sung after the split. This ideology believed that "man is the master of his destiny" and by becoming fully self reliant, one can achieve true socialism.

Woman walking in the suburbs of North Korea

Photography laws in North Korea

Censorship:

• It is illegal to photograph the army
• Photos that display poverty are not to be shown or published
• No photos that display homelessness
• No photos that display flaws in the country's infrastructure
• No photos showing citizens as being malnourished (overweight/underweight)
• When visiting attractions, one can take pictures but must not show that the crowd is 99% soldiers.
• Photographing run down buildings is forbidden
• One must ask to take photographs; one does not have the right to freely photograph the country and its people
  • North Korean government authorities may view taking unauthorized pictures as espionage, confiscate cameras and film and/or detain the photographer

Consequences: Case Studies

Photographer Banned from North Korea

North Korean soldiers are marching

Well established photographer, Éric Lafforgue, was banned by the North Korean government from entering the nation after having publicized images that displayed the daily lives of North Koreans. After his sixth visit, the government found the images online and insisted that he removed them since they consisted of photographs of the army, homelessness, malnourished citizens, and other flaws. He refused to do so therefore put a lifetime ban on him.

Michal Huniewicz - Pictures taken and smuggled out of North Korea

Michal Huniewicz is a photographer who photographed and exposed photos showing the true lives of citizens of North Korea and what they have to go through on a daily basis, “I took the illegal photos Kim doesn´t want you to see". When Michal’s photo’s were leaked, most people were shocked and alarmed, but debates arose on whether the photographs had been staged or not. Many photographers and tourists argued that they too had visited North Korea and it had not been at all how he portrayed it to be, putting his credibility at stake.

Importance of Photojournalism in North Korea

David Guttenfelder

David Guttenfelder is a photojournalist and National Geographic photographer that focuses on geopolitical conflict and culture conservation. Guttenfelder spent more than 20 years based in Nairobi, New Delhi, Abidjan, Jerusalem and Tokyo covering world events in nearly 100 countries.

People in the rest of the world rely heavily on photojournalism in North Korea to attain a more accurate representation of what life is like there. His photography has allowed many people to get an insight on first-hand visuals of life in North Korea through his publications. However, even well recognized photographers, like Guttenfelder, who has visited the nation over forty times, still need to follow the heavy censorship rules.

Although a lot is hidden from the world, photojournalism still remains the only inside source that shows North Korea as it is, instead of as it would want to be seen.

Accuracy of Photojournalism

Most of the time, photojournalism is an accurate medium to portray a situation or people in a certain situation to the outside world. However, photojournalism too can be inaccurate and non-representational of an actual situation.

"Photographs are neither mirrors nor windows offering untrammelled access to events. Events come to be through technologies of visualisation, and that is a process in which all participants in the visual economy (subjects, image makers, news agencies, media networks, audiences, and others) have a role in the construction of people and places".

Ethics in Photojournalism

Photojournalists are held to a standard of ethics. Photojournalists often are obliged to sign a contract that declares what that publication considers to be an accurate representation of images to the public. This contract, "sometimes written, sometimes unwritten" can easily be disrespected or ignored by photographers (depending on how severely it is implemented), thus affecting the accuracy and reliability of the images being shown.

North Korean Point of View

North Korean leaders believe that their rules and censorship system is necessary in order to keep people under control, “to prevent the rise of criticism about the government. This might be the case, indeed: Being unaware of the alternatives to their lifestyles, people are less likely to dream about a change.”