Photography & Digital ArtJAN 17, 2018

50 Illegal Photos Of North Korea That Kim Jong Un Doesn’t Want You To See

Photographer Eric Lafforgue is one of the very lucky few that have had a chance to see what North Korea is really like. "Since 2008, I have ventured to North Korea six times," he said. "Thanks to digital memory cards, I was able to save photos that I was forbidden to take or was told to delete by the minders."

He's actually a regular Bored Panda user who is responsible for some of the most popular posts on our website, for example 'Highway To Yell In North Korea Which I Captured During The Last Trip' and 'I Introduced Polaroid To North Korea, And It Made People Open Up And Tell Their Stories.'

Lafforgue wasn't interested in the carefully orchestrated tourist trips to the mysterious country, revealing only its facade. He wanted to go beyond that, to catch a domestic glimpse of the land and people that aren't under the complete control of the regime. "I was treated like any other tourist," Eric told Bored Panda. "They didn't allow me to take pictures of the police, the army, etc. But with a 300mm zoom lens and a seat in the back of the bus I could take so many..." He shot thousands of pictures, showing citizens and government officials going about their everyday lives. "As soon as they were opening a new area to visit I tried to go and see it, documenting the place."

After Lafforgue came back from his 6th trip to North Korea in 2012, however, the government discovered him sharing secretly taken photos online. They demanded him to take down the images. "I refused as I show all the aspects of North Korea: the good and the bad. Just like I do with any country I visit. I refused to make an exception for North Korea and they did't like this." Soon, the regime banned Lafforgue from crossing its border ever again.

"During homestay meals in the countryside, I could speak with the locals for hours, thanks to my guides. They told me so much about how they live, what they dream of, and so on. The main thing to know is that North Koreans are warm people, very curious about the visitors and very generous, even though most of them own nearly nothing."

#21 The North Korean Officials Hate When You Take This Kind Of Picture. Even When I Explain That Poverty Exists All Around The World, In My Own Country As Well, They Forbid Me From Taking Pictures Of The Poor

#22 Only In North Korea: I Was At A Factory Shooting With My Tv Crew. We Were Followed By A Local Cameraman Who Filmed Throughout The Trip (On The Right). On This Day, The Government Sent Another Cameraman To Film Us All! Very Meta

#23 It’s Not A Circus, They Are Workers In A Country With Low Safety Standards

#24 One Night, On The Way Back To The Hotel My Bus Had To Take An Alternate Route Due To Street Closures. As We Passed By Old Buildings, The Guides Asked Me Not To Shoot With Flash. The Official Reason Was “To Avoid Scaring People”

#25 You Can Find All Kinds Of Food And Drinkin Pyongyang’s Two Supermarkets Where Things Are Sold In Both Euros And Wons. They Even Have Evian Water. Only The Elite Can Shop There

#26 It Is Absolutely Forbidden To Take A Picture Of The Kim Statues From The Back. It Is Considered Very Rude

#27 Brand New Restaurants Have Opened Along The Taedong River In The New Center Of Pyongyang. Only The Elite Can Afford To Eat There For The Equivalent Of Few Euros. The Sturgeon I Had Was Actually Very Tasty

#28 This Man Was Taking A Rest On The Rocks By The Sea In Chilbo. My Guide Asked Me To Delete This For Fear That Western Media Could Say That This Man Was Dead. He Was Alive

#29 When Times Are Hard (As They Usually Are Here), Kids Can Be Found Working For The Farming Collectives

#30 Something You Can See Often In North Korea, But Still Forbidden To Photograph

#31 In The Art Center Of Pyongyang, We Experienced A Power Outage, A Daily Event The North Koreans Hate To Show. When It Happens, They Tell You It’s Because Of The American Embargo

#32 Paranoia Is Too Strong In North Korean Minds. I Took This Picture At A Fun Fair Of A Tired Mother And Child Resting On A Bench. I Was Asked To Delete The Picture Since The Guides Were Certain I Would Have Said Those People Were Homeless

#33 For A Long Time, Bans Against Black Market Sales Have Been Strictly Enforced. Grey Market Vendors Are More Common. They Earn A Little Money Selling Cigarettes Or Sweets

#34 There Are A Lot Of Tired People Since Many Have To Ride Their Bikes For Hours To Go To Work In The Fields. Taking Pictures Of Them Is Forbidden

#35 Public Transportation Connecting The Main Towns Is Nearly Nonexistent. Citizens Need Permits To Go From One Place To Another. On The Highways, You Can Spot Soldiers Hitchhiking

#36 The Officials Took Issue With This Photo For Two Reasons: 1) The Teen Has His Cap Worn In A Strange Way (According To My Guide), And 2) There Are Soldiers In The Back

#37 A Very Rare Picture Of A Wheelchair. In Six Trips, I Saw Only Two Of Them

#38 This Is Never Supposed To Happen: A Broom Standing On The Base Of Kim Il Sung’s Statue In Mansudae, In Pyongyang

#39 Thousands Of North Koreans On The Day Of The Kimjongilia Festival, Queuing Up To Visit Various Monuments

#40 Showing Poverty Is Forbidden, But Displaying Wealth Is Also A Big Taboo In North Korea. In A Park On A Sunday Afternoon, I Found This Car That Belongs To One Of Pyongyang’s Elite. The Owners Were Having A Bbq