50 Illegal Pictures of North Korea That Depict a True Story

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.

It’s not a circus; they are workers in a country with low safety standards.

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 a flash. The official reason was “to avoid scaring people.”

You can find all kinds of food and drinks in Pyongyang’s two supermarkets, where things are sold in both euros and wons. They even have Evian water. Only the elite can shop there.

Taking a picture of the Kim statues from the back is absolutely forbidden. It is considered very rude.

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 a few euros. The sturgeon I had was actually very tasty.

This man was resting on the rocks by the sea in Chilbo. My guide asked me to delete this for fear that Western media could say this man was dead. He was alive.

When times are hard (as they usually are here), kids can be found working for the farming collectives.

Something you can see often in North Korea but are still forbidden to photograph.

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.

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.

Bans against black market sales have been strictly enforced for a long time. Grey market vendors are more common. They earn a little money selling cigarettes or sweets.

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.

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.

The officials took issue with this North Korea photo for two reasons: 

1. The teen has his cap worn in a strange way (according to my guide).
2. There are soldiers in the back.

A very rare picture of a wheelchair. On six trips, I saw only two of them.

This is never supposed to happen: A broom standing on the base of Kim Il Sung’s statue in Mansudae, in Pyongyang.

Thousands of North Koreans queued up to visit various monuments on the day of the Kimjongilia festival.

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 belonged to one of Pyongyang’s elite. The owners were having a BBQ.

It is forbidden to take pictures of the daily life of the North Korean people if they are not well dressed. For my guide, this man was not well dressed enough to be photographed.