North Koreans Were Given Cameras, Photos They Took Show What Life Is Really Like

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Koreaboo

These photos of North Korea show what life is really like in the country.

A colonel at North Korea’s DMZ which marks the border with South Korea.

Eric Lafforgue is a celebrated French photographer whose trips to North Korea resulted in some of the best images of the isolated country.

This young woman looks like she could be in the military herself, but she’s actually just guarding a museum.

But it wasn’t until he gave Polaroid cameras to North Koreans that his best images of North Korea were taken.

A waitress in a restaurant Pyongyang, Lafforgue wrote that all waitresses perform songs once they have finished serving customers.

Eric Lafforgue’s original plan to use Polaroid cameras was an artistic choice, but he quickly found that these handheld cameras were a way to break the ice with the locals.

When asked where the wanted to take the photo most people said “Below our dear leaders.”

Most North Koreans hadn’t seen anything like them before and were so excited that they wanted to take photos themselves.

Bowling is a popular past time for North Koreans and bowling allies are often filled with young couples on dates.

Whenever he would take a Polaroid picture, he offered another to his guide, and they were eager to open and reveal what life was really like there.

After getting married, each new couple must come to the statues of the ‘dear leaders’ on Mansudea hill to pay their respects.

Eric’s photos of North Korea are the closest anyone has come to getting candid pictures of the country.

Despite the restrictions, Eric has been able to shine a light on what it’s like to live under the reclusive regime of Kim Jong Un.

In Pyongyang, women are often not allowed to ride bicycles, but in the countryside, there is no other option.

Source: Eric Lafforgue, CNBC, and Next Shark

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