DPR Korea Grand Tour, 2016 Archival pigment print on fine art paper, 132 x 112 cm Copyright Carl De Keyzer, Magnum, Courtesy Roberto Polo Gallery, Brussels
In 2015, world-renowned Belgian photographer, Carl De Keyzer, had an opportunity few have ever had before: travel through every province of North Korea and photograph what he saw.
His trip was organized by the British-run Koryo Group and offered him the chance to spend over 40 nights in the country—accompanied by North Korean guides—photographing provincial life for both the travel company’s website as well as his own portfolio.
Now, two years later, De Keyzer is exhibiting what he witnessed for the first time. In a show at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center that’s on display through this weekend (exhibited along side some of De Keyzer’s photographs of a similar trip in Cuba) the images portray scenes of everyday life for North Koreans.
The exhibit comes at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and the famously closed off country and offers a rare glimpse of a different aspect of North Korean life.
Here, some of De Keyzer’s photographs from the show:
DPR Korea Grand Tour, 2016 Archival pigment print on fine art paper, 132 x 112 cm Copyright Carl De Keyzer, Magnum, Courtesy Roberto Polo Gallery, Brussels DPR Korea Grand Tour, 2016 Archival pigment print on fine art paper, 132 x 112 cm Copyright Carl De Keyzer, Magnum, Courtesy Roberto Polo Gallery, Brussels DPR Korea Grand Tour, 2016 Archival pigment print on fine art paper, 132 x 112 cm Copyright Carl De Keyzer, Magnum, Courtesy Roberto Polo Gallery, Brussels DPR Korea Grand Tour, 2016 Archival pigment print on fine art paper, 132 x 112 cm Copyright Carl De Keyzer, Magnum, Courtesy Roberto Polo Gallery, Brussels DPR Korea Grand Tour, 2016 Archival pigment print on fine art paper, 132 x 112 cm Copyright Carl De Keyzer, Magnum, Courtesy Roberto Polo Gallery, Brussels DPR Korea Grand Tour, 2016 Archival pigment print on fine art paper, 132 x 112 cm Copyright Carl De Keyzer, Magnum, Courtesy Roberto Polo Gallery, Brussels
DPR Korea Grand Tour, 2016 Archival pigment print on fine art paper, 132 x 112 cm Copyright Carl De Keyzer, Magnum, Courtesy Roberto Polo Gallery, Brussels
