The North Koreans: Glimpses of Daily Life in the DPRK

28/02/2019

This book is not about parades and mass events of official DPRK propaganda, neither does it pretend to show “secret North Korea”. Glimpses of Daily Life presents “unofficial” North Korea. It shows how people live their daily lives against the backdrop of totalitarian ideology...

08/12/2018

11/06/2018

When doing research for the book I found a lot of interesting material in the archives of Willem van der Bijl. The pictures below are from instruction-manuals from the eighties/nineties: large pamflets used by doctors to inform the people on the effects of a nuclear attack. Not all the instructions seem very useful. Let's hope the summit will bring good news and "The North Koreans" will become an historic document. Evelyn

15/12/2017

We congratulate Andrei Lankov. He has been chosen by the Korea Risk Group, as one of this year's Global reThinkers for Foreign Policy! We are proud of the review he wrote for NKnews in July this year.

04/09/2017

Interview in Fluter.de
http://www.fluter.de/fotos-aus-dem-alltag-in-nordkorea

Fotos aus Nordkorea, die das Alltagsleben zeigen, sind sehr selten. Der Bildband „The North Koreans“ gibt rare Einblicke in das abgeschottete und durchinszenzierte Land. Ein Interview mit der Herausgeberin Evelyn de Regt

31/07/2017

The eminent scholar Andrei Lankov reviewed our book for NK News (27th of July); his conclusion: “The North Koreans” can be seen as a remarkable breakthrough. I would describe it as the best visual representation of North Korea’s daily life, available not only in English, but in any language, including Korean – a truly unique and valuable book indeed."

https://www.nknews.org/2017/07/beyond-the-rare-glimpse-can-photography-really-capture-north-korean-life/?c=1501124819382

This is a book review of Martin Tutsch's "The North Koreans: Glimpses of Daily Life in the DPRK". 2017. Primavera Pers. When it comes to images and video materials, one can be certain that the last 20-30 years, and especially the last decade, will be remembered by future historians as the most photo...

25/06/2017

Interview with Willem van der Bijl - one of the contributors to "The North Koreans" - on his famous collection propaganda posters, smuggled out of North Korea during several years.

http://buitenland.eenvandaag.nl/tv-items/75017/postzegelhandelaar_zat_ook_gevangen_in_noord_korea

De student Otto Warmbier heeft het met zijn leven moeten bekopen. Hij zou in Noord Korea hebben geprobeerd een propagandabord te ontmantelen voor thuis. Of het ook echt om een bord of een poster of iets anders ging dat hij mee probeerde te nemen...

25/06/2017

Bruce Cumings (Swift Distinguished Professor University of Chicago History Department) about "The North Koreans":
“This is a riveting book, with dozens of photos that the North Koreans would not want foreigners to see. The book shines much light on the impoverishment and general decline of the rural areas and the older industrial towns—rustbelt towns, we would call them in the U.S. Few seem to understand that North Korea is an industrialized and urbanized country, with an industrial base that has been hollowed out for the past 25 years. These photos also demonstrate that Pyongyang is a modern, slick oasis for the DPRK elite—constituting about 10 percent of the population—in the midst of a poor country badly in need of investment and development.”

08/05/2017

"Jetzt aber erscheint ein Bildband, wie es ihn in seiner enzyklopädischen Fülle wohl noch nie gegeben hat. Der holländische Verlag Primavera Pers hat Bilder von mehr als 30 Fotografen, Diplomaten, Wirtschaftsreisenden und Touristen versammelt, die möglichst viele Aspekte des Landes und des Lebens abbilden."

This is a quote from the review in the German quality newspaper The Sueddeutsche Zeitung (from 27 April 2017)

Full text:
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/bildband-die-botschaft-der-farbflecken-1.3481083

The reviewer, Alex Ruhl, really noticed the message of the book. We are very happy with that. Therefore another quote:

"Glimpses of Daily Life in the DPRK zeigt, dass es hier darum gehen soll, den Alltag der 23 Millionen Insassen dieser totalen Diktatur sichtbar zu machen, Wasserverkäufer, Straßenarbeiter, Schulkinder, Hausmeister, Bauern, Funktionäre... Dazu wurden hervorragend recherchierte Texte gestellt, die die Bilder sinnvoll kontextualisieren und das Buch unterteilen in Kapitel wie Arbeit - Verkehr - Landwirtschaft. Keine einzige Parade ist dabei. Was nicht heißt, dass der Aspekt der Propaganda und Totalüberwachung nicht vorkäme, er wird vielmehr zum omnipräsenten Hintergrund der Alltagsbilder."

Ein beeindruckender Bildband mit Alltagsfotografien zeigt das Leben in Nordkorea ohne Polit-Zoo und Diktatur-Voyeurismus. An Details wird die Totalüberwachung sichtbar, ohne im Zentrum zu stehen.

13/04/2017

The Belgian quality daily newspaper "De Standaard" published a selection of images from our book. Fine publicity!

13/04/2017

Discussion about the book in the newsletter of Leiden University "Mare".

02/03/2017

Focus, Holland's oldest photography magazine (now in its 104th year!) was elated about The North Koreans: "The North Koreans doesn't go for sensation, but is nonetheless sensational - a documentary wonder book that begs to be leafed through again and again."

28/02/2017

The North Koreans: Exhibition.
A fascinating selection of photographs from The North Koreans is now on display in the c-corridor of the Kamerlingh Onnes Building (KOG, Leiden University, Faculty of Law) in Leiden. The 30 high-quality prints will be on view until July 2017.

10/01/2017

... and the well-known Dutch photographer and author Hans Aarsman thought The North Koreans was a "shockingly good photobook" ...

10/01/2017

On 7 January the Nederlands Dagblad wrote: "De kracht van The North Koreans zit in de combinatie van gedegen teksten over het leven in Noord-Korea, gecombineerd met een weloverwogen en ruime selectie van foto's" ("The strength of The North Koreans is the combination of solid and reliable texts about life in North Korea and a careful and ample selection of photographs").

10/01/2017

The Korea Times published a review on 10 January 2017. "Each photographer brings unique strengths to the book," writes reviewer Jon Dunbar:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2017/01/142_221587.html

The internet is flooded with galleries of

10/01/2017

On 8 December 2016 the Reformatorisch Dagblad published a thoughtful review of The North Koreans:
http://www.rd.nl/vandaag/buitenland/nieuw-fotoboek-toont-bizarre-wereld-van-noord-korea-1.1357620

Hoe is het mogelijk dat anno 2016 een regime zijn bevolking zo kan knechten en vernederen? Die vraag komt op bij het zien van de honderden opnamen in een nieuw fotoboek over Noord-Korea.

08/12/2016

Today the exhibition started in Vooraf en Toe, Botermarkt 9 in Leiden. Untill 10 January 2017. Two photographs sold already!