[KS] North Korean images: some further thoughts
Afostercarter at aol.com
Afostercarter at aol.com
Sun Aug 7 03:32:58 EDT 2011
Dear friends and colleagues,
Many thanks for these interesting and varied comments.
Perhaps I should clarify why I felt moved to post this link:
1. As a general rule: If I run across something interesting
about Korea in a non-Koreanist outlet - eg The Atlantic -
then I like to spread the word among fellow-Koreanists,
lest they would miss it. Don't other people feel that way?
It's called gemeinschaft.
2. While various political points might be made, actually
my own reaction this time was primarily aesthetic.
In a new book hot off the press*, Kate Hext and I ponder
what is involved in making art of the DPRK as one form of
engagement. There's a lot of this now, and it's very various.
What really grabbed me was Guttenfelder's o so painterly
first shot in the sequence. Those astonishing blue hues!
3. I am well aware, as I imagine are many on this list
- but perhaps not all, which is why it's comradely to share -
that there are now thousands of interesting images of
North Korea available. Flickr alone has Kernbeisser,
Ray Cunningham and many others. The latter kindly
links to his own favourite photographers of the DPRK here:
_https://sites.google.com/site/northkoreaobservations/home_
(https://sites.google.com/site/northkoreaobservations/home)
There are books of photographs too. I count at least five
coffee-table large-format picture books of North Korea.
It's interesting to compare them, as I did briefly in a
long working paper for the aforementioned book chapter.
This section I take the liberty of appending.
4. Finally, even the world's priciest photographer has got
in on the NK act. Hext and I discuss this in our chapter. See also
_http://www.mattlippiatt.co.uk/Andreas%20Gursky.htm_
(http://www.mattlippiatt.co.uk/Andreas%20Gursky.htm)
All in all, there really is a bit more to this topic than just
'yeah yeah, been there, done that, got the tee-shirt.'
Kind regards
Aidan FC
Aidan Foster-Carter
Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Sociology & Modern Korea, Leeds
University, UK
E: _afostercarter at aol.com_ (mailto:afostercarter at aol.com)
_afostercarter at yahoo.com_ (mailto:afostercarter at yahoo.com) W: _www.aidanfc.net_
(http://www.aidanfc.net/)
Flat 1, 40 Magdalen Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 4TE, England, UK
T: (+44, no 0) 07970 741307 (mobile); 01392 257753 (home)
Skype: Aidan.Foster.Carter Twitter: @fcaidan
* DPRKrazy, Sexy, Cool: The Art of Engaging North Korea.
Ch. 2, pp 31-50 in Rüdiger Frank (Ed.), Exploring North Korean Arts.
Nuremberg: Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg, for Vienna University/MAK,
2011. Available from the latter at
_http://www.makdesignshop.at/index.php?cat=8&page=8&id=1615_
(http://www.makdesignshop.at/index.php?cat=8&page=8&id=1615) (It doesn't seem to be on Amazon yet.)
_______________________________
Every picture tells a story
[Paragraph on Guy Delisle_[1]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftn1)
omitted]
More common are photographic books about North Korea, some seeking to make
art of it in their own way. In The Last Paradise (2003) Nicolas Righetti,
a Swiss photojournalist, sets images often garish and grainy – some taken
from video – alongside snippets of text and commentary (official and
unofficial) printed in white on a green background. The effect is striking, if
unsettling. At least two Amazon customers missed the point, complaining that
the pictures are poor quality; but others defend him as “puckish.” A later
book on Turkmenistan – where else! – is similar in conception, but the
photography appears more conventional. _[2]_
(aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftn2)
By contrast, the images in the British photographer Charlie Crane’s
Welcome to Pyongyang (2007) are crystal clear. The book itself is more ambiguous.
The ubiquitous Nick Bonner is credited as “collaborator and producer,” so
at one level this could be read as a puff for Koryo Tours; the book begins
with a “Welcome to Korea” from an official tourism guidebook. The
photographs are sites on Pyongyang’s tourist trail, often with a posed guide or
employee whose presumed voice (not actually in quotation marks) is the sole
caption or explanation. Thus Yong Ran, incongruous in hanbok in front of a
large machine at the Three Revolutions Exhibition: “All the parts of this
electronically controlled hydraulic excavator are made in my country.” (About
half way through; the book has no index, contents list or pagination.)
Bonner says in his introduction: “What we present [here] is Pyongyang on
its own terms.” Whereas most works considered above would be anathema to the
DPRK, this book no doubt must pass muster with the authorities. Fair
enough; and intriguing to learn that “There are no photography exhibitions [in
North Korea] for aesthetic purposes only. Photography is not regarded as an
art form in its own right.” But Bonner is on thinner ice in telling the
would-be visitor: “There is little background reading that will help prepare
you … You would be better advised to travel with an open mind.” Does that
mean an empty mind? Or is there a sub-text: Of course we know and they know
that this is all theatre, so just relax and enjoy the show?_[3]_
(aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftn3) We have come a long way from Chris
Marker_[4]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftn4) , half a century earlier – and
not forwards.
There is competition here from at least three other photo-essay books on
North Korea: by Philippe Chancel,_[5]_
(aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftn5) Mark Edward Harris,_[6]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftn6) and
Christian Kracht et al._[7]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftn7) Space
precludes a detailed review. Chancel’s award-winning work gives a wider if
still somewhat sanitised – unlike the accompanying texts – view of
Pyongyang. Harris ventures outside the capital, and beyond Sunday-best appearances;
he has since published a similar book on Iran. Kracht is a well-known
German controversialist; his essay, accompanying photographs by Eva Munz and
Lukas Nikol, depicts North Korea as a “maniacal theatric play.” Who knew?
The real lives of most North Koreans, far from Pyongyang, hardly make such
coffee-table fodder. But plenty of images can be found online, from the
everyday to the desperate._[8]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftn8) Flickr
alone has over 48,000 photographs of the DPRK, including the fine work of
Eric Lafforgue._[9]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftn9)
____________________________________
_[1]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftnref1) Guy Delisle, Pyongyang:
A Journey in North Korea. Montréal: Drawn & Quarterly, 2005. (First
published in French, 2003.) Also
_www.drawnandquarterly.com/newsList.php?item=a43204677c3785_
(http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/newsList.php?item=a43204677c3785)
_[2]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftnref2) Nicolas Righetti, The
Last Paradise: North Korea Brooklyn NY: Umbrage, 2003. Slideshow and article
at _http://www.theglobalist.com/storyid.aspx?StoryId=4114_
(http://www.theglobalist.com/storyid.aspx?StoryId=4114) . More images – be sure to enlarge –
at
_http://www.photoeye.com/BookteaseLight/bookteaselight.cfm?catalog=PY111&image=1_
(http://www.photoeye.com/BookteaseLight/bookteaselight.cfm?catalog=PY111ℑ=1) . For complaints and defence, see
_http://www.amazon.com/Last-Paradise-Nicolas-Righetti/dp/1884167322_
(http://www.amazon.com/Last-Paradise-Nicolas-Righetti/dp/1884167322) For Righetti’s images of Turkmenistan,
see slideshow at _http://www.lensculture.com/righetti.html_
(http://www.lensculture.com/righetti.html)
_[3]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftnref3) Charlie Crane, Welcome to
Pyongyang. London: Boot, 2007.
_[4]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftnref4) Both the original text
of his extraordinary Coréennes (Paris: Seuil, 1959) and Marker’s reflections
38 years later can be read in English at
_http://www.markertext.com/coreenes.htm_ (http://www.markertext.com/coreenes.htm) . A recent Korean edition
(Seoul: Noonbit, 2008) is available at
_http://store.wexnercenterstore.com/chmaco.html_ (http://store.wexnercenterstore.com/chmaco.html)
_[5]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftnref5) Philippe Chancel, with
texts by Michel Poivert and Jonathan Fenby, North Korea. London: Thames &
Hudson 2006. Many of his images can be seen at
_http://www.philippechancel.com_ (http://www.philippechancel.com/) .
_[6]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftnref6) Mark Edward Harris, with
a foreword by Bruce Cumings, Inside North Korea. San Francisco: Chronicle,
2007 . Some images available at
_http://www.markedwardharris.com/gallery_NKorea.html_ (http://www.markedwardharris.com/gallery_NKorea.html)
_[7]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftnref7) Christian Kracht, Eva
Munz, Lukas Nikol, The Ministry of Truth: Kim Jong Il’s North Korea. Los
Angeles: Feral House, 2007 (Original: Die totale Erinnerung: Kim Jong Ils
Nordkorea. Rogner & Bernhard, 2006). See also
_http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/15/korea.photography_
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/15/korea.photography) and
_http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2008/jan/15/photography.korea_
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2008/jan/15/photography.korea) for images and discussion
_[8]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftnref8) Fine collections include
_www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/04/peering_into_north_korea.html_
(http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/04/peering_into_north_korea.html) and
_www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/recent_scenes_from_north_korea.html_
(http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/recent_scenes_from_north_korea.html)
_[9]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftnref9)
_http://www.ericlafforgue.com/dprk.htm_ (http://www.ericlafforgue.com/dprk.htm)
________________________________
Re [KS] Striking photographs of the DPRK from AP's David Guttenfelder, in
The Atlantic
McCann, David _dmccann at fas.harvard.edu _
(mailto:koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws?Subject=Re:%20[KS]%20Striking%20photographs%20of%20the%20DPRK%20from
AP's David
Guttenfelder,%20in%20The%20Atlantic&In-Reply-To=<B21BB02B-435A-4F2B-AFCD-0E0F347F7944 at fas.harvard.edu>)
Sat Aug 6 09:07:45 EDT 2011
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____________________________________
Isn't there a curious irony to the notion that on the one hand North
Korea has a reputation for being forbidden or inaccessible, while on
the other, any paying customer can visit the places the AP reporter
photoed? Especially given the fact that "large parts of North
Korea ... are off-limits."
The challenge of these notions, though, is to determine where the
crux of the irony is located. What plays against what else for ironic
effect? For one set I would propose "sign up on a tour" versus
"forbidden or inaccessible to foreigners."
I have also heard it reported on good authority-- a former NASA
astronaut with three space flights and continuing work with the
Agency-- that in the not-too-distant future, space flights, earth
orbit or eventually even the moon, will be available to anyone who can
pay to go.
What precisely is the point that Charles and Michael seem to wish to
register? That any schmuck with a camera can take pictures of those
government-approved places and those people in North Korea? I think,
ironically, that Aidan made exactly that same point, only-- as Charles
and Michael both noted-- they were indeed done well.
David McCann
On Aug 5, 2011, at 11:21 AM, Charles K. Armstrong wrote:
> With all due respect to Aidan, I agree with Michael that there wasn't
> anything particularly unprecedented or striking about the subject
> matter of the photos, although they were done well. There is a
> widespread notion that North Korea remains forbidden or inaccessible
> to foreigners, and while there are certainly large parts of North
> Korea that are off-limits, pretty much any paying customer from North
> America or Europe can sign up on a tour and see the sights that the AP
> reporters visited.
> --
> Charles K. Armstrong
> Professor of History
> Director, Center for Korean Research
> Columbia University
> 930 International Affairs Building
> 420 West 118th Street
> New York, NY 10027
>
> Tel: 212-854-1721
> Fax: 212-749-1497
>
>
> Quoting "Robinson, Michael E." <_robime at indiana.edu_
(http://koreaweb.ws/mailman/listinfo/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws) >:
>
>> These are very nice, but not new scenes. Very standard by my eye,
>> but nice to have a professional do them.
>>
>> Mike Robinson
>>
>> From: _koreanstudies-bounces at koreaweb.ws_
(http://koreaweb.ws/mailman/listinfo/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws)
>> [mailto:_koreanstudies-bounces at koreaweb.ws_
(http://koreaweb.ws/mailman/listinfo/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws) ] On Behalf Of
>> _Afostercarter at aol.com_
(http://koreaweb.ws/mailman/listinfo/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws)
>> Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 6:00 AM
>> To: _Koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws_
(http://koreaweb.ws/mailman/listinfo/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws) ; _baks at jiscmail.ac.uk_
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>> Subject: [KS] Striking photographs of the DPRK from AP's David
>> Guttenfelder, in The Atlantic
>>
>> _http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/inside-north-korea/100119/_
(http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/inside-north-korea/100119/)
>>
>> Inside North Korea
>> AUG 2, 2011 |
>>
148<_http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/inside-north-korea/100119/#disqus_thread_
(http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/inside-north-korea/100119/#disqus_thread)
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Earlier this year, David Guttenfelder, chief Asia photographer for
>> the Associated Press, along with Jean H. Lee, AP bureau chief in
>> Seoul, were granted unprecedented access to parts of North Korea as
>> part of the AP's efforts to expand coverage of the isolated
>> communist nation. The pair made visits to familiar sites accompanied
>> by government minders, and were also allowed to travel into the
>> countryside accompanied by North Korean journalists instead of
>> government officials. Though much of what the AP journalists saw was
>> certainly orchestrated, their access was still remarkable.
>> Collected here are some of Guttenfelder's images from the trip that
>> provide a glimpse of North Korea. [37
>>
photos<_http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/inside-north-korea/100119/_
(http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/inside-north-korea/100119/)
>> >]
>>
>
>
>
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