raid
Dad Photographer
These are very interesting looking images from a country that few people from the West have visited.
alliv
Member
Excellent work Ray, I really like it. As an ex-citizen of Soviet Union in sixties-seventies, those images strike a nostalgic chord in me.
raytoei@gmail.com
Veteran
but wait, there is more...
dandong is the eastern most border in china, and since it shares a common border with DPRK,
you'd expect a lot of Korean influences, from the menu in Korean as well to the businessmen who
do trades between China and the DPRK. Well, this place is also full of pro-North and pro-South
factions. Needless to say, there are lots of spies here, most of them we do not see at all.
So here's an interesting thing that happened on Tuesday:
I was in the airport waiting to catch the flight from Dandong to Beijing
(and catch an early next day flight back to Singapore).
And I stumbled upon 5 DPRK girls with a mamasan accompanying them.
Now, my guess was either they were daughters of rich DPRK officials on holiday
together or as my friend suggested, they were spies.
So, how do you know if a spy is a spy and not a holiday maker ?
Well, I tried to chat with the girl, I pointed to her dark blue passport and to the
DPRK pin on my t-shirt, she just stared at me and I felt embarrassed.
I stood up, spoke on my mobile phone but the camera was pointing at the group,
and I took a couple of shots.
then the mamasan must have noticed that the stealthy camera was clicking
away she pretended to walk near me, I then move to my right and continued
my phone call.
But for the next 20 mins, everyone started to wear sunglasses, and one of them
would be keeping an eye on me at all times.
So, what do you think ? Happy holidaymakers from North Korea or Spies ?
dandong is the eastern most border in china, and since it shares a common border with DPRK,
you'd expect a lot of Korean influences, from the menu in Korean as well to the businessmen who
do trades between China and the DPRK. Well, this place is also full of pro-North and pro-South
factions. Needless to say, there are lots of spies here, most of them we do not see at all.
So here's an interesting thing that happened on Tuesday:
I was in the airport waiting to catch the flight from Dandong to Beijing
(and catch an early next day flight back to Singapore).
And I stumbled upon 5 DPRK girls with a mamasan accompanying them.
Now, my guess was either they were daughters of rich DPRK officials on holiday
together or as my friend suggested, they were spies.
So, how do you know if a spy is a spy and not a holiday maker ?
Well, I tried to chat with the girl, I pointed to her dark blue passport and to the
DPRK pin on my t-shirt, she just stared at me and I felt embarrassed.
I stood up, spoke on my mobile phone but the camera was pointing at the group,
and I took a couple of shots.
then the mamasan must have noticed that the stealthy camera was clicking
away she pretended to walk near me, I then move to my right and continued
my phone call.
But for the next 20 mins, everyone started to wear sunglasses, and one of them
would be keeping an eye on me at all times.
So, what do you think ? Happy holidaymakers from North Korea or Spies ?
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
My guess is five ordinary people brought up hearing lots of spy stories and spotting a man with a camera taking pictures of them conspicuously.
Excellent photo-essay.
Curious choice of toning color, though.
rxmd
May contain traces of nut
Good pictures, thanks!
raytoei@gmail.com
Veteran
hi. i have uploaded additional images into rf.sg,
most of the images are slightly different from
those posted here.
http://www.rfsg.asia/photo-essay-north-korea-by-raytoei/
thanks!
raytoei
most of the images are slightly different from
those posted here.
http://www.rfsg.asia/photo-essay-north-korea-by-raytoei/
thanks!
raytoei
mep
Established
Thanks Ray,
Excellent ...
Excellent ...
TXForester
Well-known
Very nice work. I like the photo of the guard at the "International Friendship Exhibition." Nothing says friendship like semi/full auto firearm.