Smuggled Photos from N. Korea

PowerPoint Show by Andrew

♫ Turn on Speakers

The North Korea that Kim doesn’t want you to see:

Michal Huniewicz risked detention by taking photos of everyday life in North Korea and smuggling them out.

Photographer visited the secretive state and managed to evade the watchful eye of his official tour guide.

Watchful eye: Street cleaners sweep pavements for dust under the keen eye of a soldier in one of the parks in the capital city, Pyongyang.

Propaganda: A waitress works in a restaurant in North Korea where propaganda images are broadcast on television around the clock.

Rural: Locals watch and wait for a train to pass, providing Michal with a few seconds to snap this image of life in North Korea's countryside.

Everyday life: A mother carrying a baby walks alongside other women and children in the streets in this picture taken by Michal.

Risky: Michal captured the photos, including this one of North Koreans travelling in a bus, before smuggling them out of the country.

Unseen: Dressed in identical brown uniforms and matching yellow hard hats, North Korean workers carry their equipment on a main road.

Checks: Michal took this photo of a customs declaration form revealing the items banned from being brought into the country. Laptops were searched for any controversial content, including Korean films and pornography.

Entry point: Dandong station, one of the only entry points into North Korea for foreign tourists, was deserted when Michal was there.

Deceiving? A staged scene appeared to be playing out at Pyongyang's main station, with passengers happily milling around despite an apparent lack of any other departing trains.

While much of North Korea's main city seemed spotlessly clean, this photo reflects a more realistic side to the city life for many residents.

Images of North Korean soldiers was a particularly risky although these two appear too deep in discussion to be bothered by the covert photographer.

A battered white pickup truck carrying North Korean soldiers, unaware they are being photographed, rumbles along a dusty road.

Photographs of the rural parts of North Korea reveal miles of uninterrupted green fields and stunning landscapes, where farming remains key for survival.

The depressing grey concrete tower blocks stand among the rest of the gloomy architecture in North Korea's capital city, Pyongyang.

'I had 15 seconds to take this picture.' This shop is for the locals only, and I was kicked out of it by my guide soon after taking this photo, but he didn't see me taking it.

A serious-looking North Korean man stares back at the camera while travelling aboard a busy commuter bus in the capital city.

Leaving the country remains extremely difficult for many North Koreans, with numerous watchtowers in rural areas to prevent anyone from going astray.

A uniformed man controls a train crossing in this picture taken secretly. Few people own cars and many ride bikes in the country.

Fields stretch as far as the eye can see in this image. People ride bicycles and use carriages, rather than driving cars and trucks.

A handful of groceries are on sale in this shop in the city. The shelves seem bare apart from a few bags of what appears to be dried fruit.

Three young girls play next to crops, which have been planted near a dilapidated pink tower block. This is not the kind of picture you'd be allowed to see coming out of North Korea.

The streets of the capital appear to be filled with smartly dressed taxi drivers waiting beside their green and bronze colored vehicles.

Taking photographs in North Korea remains a difficult and risky task, with the government minders closely watching out for any straying foreign tourists.

A group of women in smart skirts, shirts and red scarves are pictures sweeping an already spotless pathway in North Korea's capital city.

Michal took this photograph of an old residential building, which has been decorated with sad-looking pink flowers.

People walk under the watchful eye of North Korea's former leaders in the secretive state, which welcomes very few foreign visitors.

The grey skyline matches the tower blocks in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang.