A woman standing in the middle of a crowd of soldiers. This rare North Korea picture is not supposed to be taken as officials do not allow army pictures.

When you visit families, the guides love it if you take pics to show the world that kids have computers. But when they see there is no electricity, then they ask you to delete it!

Soldiers often help on local farms.

This kind of photo of North Korea is widespread in the West. The caption often explains that North Koreans eat grass from the park. The guides get furious if you take it.

A rare example of an undisciplined kid in North Korea. The bus was driving on the small roads of Samijyon in the north when this kid stood in the middle of the road.

The way you dress is very important in North Korea. In town, you’ll never find anybody dressed poorly. On this day, students were dancing in a park. When I asked to take a picture of them, the girl asked the man to straighten his shirt.

As cars have become more widespread in Pyongyang, the peasants are still getting accustomed to seeing them. Kids play in the middle of the main avenues, just like before when there were no cars in sight.

Pyongyang’s subway system is the deepest in the world as it doubles as a bomb shelter. Someone saw me taking this picture and told me to delete it since it included the tunnel.

Perhaps the most ridiculous prohibition I faced: this official painter was working on a new mural in Chilbo. I took the picture, and everybody started yelling at me. Since the painting was unfinished, I couldn’t take the picture.

It is forbidden to photograph malnutrition.

When you sleep in Kaesong, near the DMZ, you are locked in a hotel complex composed of old houses. It allows the guides to say, “Why do you want to go outside? It’s the same as in the hotel.”

No, it’s not.

It is forbidden to take pictures of soldiers relaxing.

On a little lake on the way to Wonsan, this fisherman uses a tire as a boat.

The pioneer’s camp of Wonsan is often visited by tourists to show the youth from all over the country having fun. But some children come from the countryside and are afraid to use the escalators, which they’ve never seen before.

When visiting the Delphinium in Pyongyang, you can photograph the animals but not the soldiers, who make up 99% of the crowd.

Queueing is a national sport for North Koreans.

In a Christian church, this official was dozing off on a bench. You must never show the officials in a bad light.

A visit to a rural home. Those houses and the families who live there are carefully selected by the government. But sometimes, a detail like a bathroom used as a cistern shows that times are hard.

This soldier was sleeping in a field.

The North Korean officials hate when you take this kind of picture. Even when I explained that poverty exists all around the world, in my own country as well, they forbade me from taking pictures of the poor.

Only in North Korea: I was at a factory shooting with my TV crew. We were followed by a local cameraman who filmed throughout the trip (on the right). On this day, the government sent another cameraman to film us all! Very meta.

It’s not a circus; they are workers in a country with low safety standards.

One night, on the way back to the hotel, my bus had to take an alternate route due to street closures. As we passed by old buildings, the guides asked me not to shoot with a flash. The official reason was “to avoid scaring people.”

You can find all kinds of food and drinks in Pyongyang’s two supermarkets, where things are sold in both euros and wons. They even have Evian water. Only the elite can shop there.

Taking a picture of the Kim statues from the back is absolutely forbidden. It is considered very rude.

Brand new restaurants have opened along the Taedong River in the new center of Pyongyang. Only the elite can afford to eat there for the equivalent of a few euros. The sturgeon I had was actually very tasty.

This man was resting on the rocks by the sea in Chilbo. My guide asked me to delete this for fear that Western media could say this man was dead. He was alive.

When times are hard (as they usually are here), kids can be found working for the farming collectives.

Something you can see often in North Korea but are still forbidden to photograph.

In the art center of Pyongyang, we experienced a power outage, a daily event the North Koreans hate to show. When it happens, they tell you it’s because of the American embargo.

Paranoia is too strong in North Korean minds. I took this picture at a fun fair of a tired mother and child resting on a bench. I was asked to delete the picture since the guides were certain I would have said those people were homeless.

Bans against black market sales have been strictly enforced for a long time. Grey market vendors are more common. They earn a little money selling cigarettes or sweets.

There are a lot of tired people since many have to ride their bikes for hours to go to work in the fields. Taking pictures of them is forbidden.

Public transportation connecting the main towns is nearly nonexistent. Citizens need permits to go from one place to another. On the highways, you can spot soldiers hitchhiking.

The officials took issue with this North Korea photo for two reasons: 

1. The teen has his cap worn in a strange way (according to my guide).
2. There are soldiers in the back.

A very rare picture of a wheelchair. On six trips, I saw only two of them.

This is never supposed to happen: A broom standing on the base of Kim Il Sung’s statue in Mansudae, in Pyongyang.

Thousands of North Koreans queued up to visit various monuments on the day of the Kimjongilia festival.

Showing poverty is forbidden, but displaying wealth is also a big taboo in North Korea. In a park on a Sunday afternoon, I found this car that belonged to one of Pyongyang’s elite. The owners were having a BBQ.

It is forbidden to take pictures of the daily life of the North Korean people if they are not well dressed. For my guide, this man was not well dressed enough to be photographed.

Taking pictures in the DMZ is easy, but they stop you if you come too close to the soldiers.

On this day in spring, people had put some carpets to dry on the banks of the Taedong River. Since a Kim Il Sung statue was in the back, taking pictures with those carpets was forbidden.

Perfection is key to any activity in North Korea. Only the best of the best are selected to perform in front of a live audience. This acrobat did three flips for this feat.

Kids in Begaebong streets, collecting grains.

Pyongyang is supposed to showcase North Korea, so building exteriors are carefully maintained. But the bleak truth becomes apparent when you get a rare chance to look inside.

I went to Chongjin, a city in the north that suffered greatly from hunger a few years ago. My camera was confiscated for the duration of the bus trip. Once at the hotel, I understood why when I saw the people on the street.

Man bathing in a river near his town.

Every year, people from the town go to the country to help out in public projects. On this day, they repainted milestones. Before, the government regarded shots like these as positive, but now they understand that we can interpret this as forced labor.

Money is a taboo topic of conversation in North Korea. It’s very difficult to understand how much people earn, the cost of living, etc. When I took this picture of the cashier of the brand new fun fair counting a lot of money, it was not a good idea!

You can see trucks loaded with coal on the highways since North Korea has a big problem getting oil, like during WW2.

A Visual Tale

You might have seen some North Korea satellite images. But, this virtual tour of the mysterious country provides us with some rarely seen glimpses of the daily lives of North Koreans. Photographer Eric Lafforgue has portrayed both the good and the bad aspects of the country. What did you think about it? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Pictures of North Korea: FAQs

How Many North Korea Stock Photos Are There?

There are around 16,500+ Stock photos of North Korea.

Did a Magnum Photographer Get Access to North Korea?

Yes, a Magnum photographer got unprecedented access to North Korea where he captured images of the country.

Can I Take Photos of North Korean Soldiers?

No. Taking photos of North Korean soldiers is strictly prohibited.