How we are all the same - deep inside
The future looming, Sariwon, North Korea, January 2017
If I learned something in North Korea, it is that humans no matter where they are, almost always want the exact same things. People want to be happy about themselves and their lives. In that regard the people there are not very different from us. They want to have, a for them meaningful job and decent living conditions and be able to start a family. That’s what they aspire. So do most of us. But the environment in which they try to achieve this, is very different from ours.
This picture captures my feeling about the clash between reality and aspirations in North Korea perfectly. I was walking to the group bus in Sariwon, where we were shown a view from a mountain. On the way back we passed a frozen lake where children were ice skating and others playing outside in the cold. The toys they had were very modest. This boy was playing with a stick when my eyes caught him. His stare told me that he didn’t know what to make out of a foreigner. On the one hand kids in North Korea are told that foreigners are evil imperialists and on the other hand he is curious. For me this is one of the saddest pictures I ever took so far. You can feel how this boy is being a child in a very modest environment, but in the background, you see the soldiers, his future, and what is awaiting him. It is not allowed to take pictures of soldiers in North Korea, I took only one shot and then had to put the camera away because the soldier in middle noticed my camera pointing into his direction.
Unlike most of the other pictures I shared this was not taken in Pyongyang, where the elite of the country lives – This picture is probably more representative of the life of an average child.
If you are interested in read more about North Korea, you might want to check out my older posts on it. …
“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart”
