North Korea #NoFilter

David Guttenfelder, a photographer for the Associated Press and Asia correspondent, has been receiving much attention lately. This time, it isn't his photojournalism in various publications that is causing a buzz, it is his personal Instagram account.  In the last three months, he was in North Korea on an assignment for the AP. Aside from taking photos with his usual professional camera gear, he took advantage of the internet privilege granted to guests entering North Korea to document photos instantly from the lens of his iPhone. 

This has created an interesting bridge between professional and citizen journalism. He uses the option of taking a quick iPhone photo for moments or scenes that are happening right before his eyes, which may not allow too much time to prepare an SLR camera to captivate it. 




Typically, on Instragram, a photo must be cropped into a square and one has a choice of putting a filter or going with out one. From reviewing David's photos, I see that he has applied either black & white filters or a colour enhacing one. Aside from the app filters, there is no screening or filtering process upon the instant upload of his photographs. He acts independently, like a citizen journalist, in deciding to put up any photo he feels illustrates North Korea best in his eyes.  His Instagram account, which is public, also engages the public sphere in a dialogue and to share his photos on social media. However, because it is only framed through the eyes of a Western photographer, it also misses the mark in highlighting beyond what the eyes can see. Although he is taking the photos in public, it is also difficult for him to talk to North Koreans, and so we must form a sort of a narrative through the caption he provides, what we already know about North Korea through what we've seen in mainstream media. We rely on the western discourse about North Korea to form a full story, as we decode fragments of their lives through Instragram photos. 

Western media have made great attempts in showing us what life in North Korea must be like. CBC's the fifth estate produced a 45 minute documentary, titled "The Last Great Escape", that is no exception. Entirely different to Instagram photos, the documentary is narrated by journalist Gillian Findlay, includes two studio interviews with the main subjects of the documentary, and include animation. 

All three characters we given anonymity and a different name in order to keep their identities and families safe. 

Particularly, I find the animation quite interesting to convey very real and harsh stories. From lacking actual footage of the individuals' escape from North Korea, the CBC presented their stories through an animated medium. However, I didn't feel as though the animation took away from the gravity of the full story.

Screenshot from the documentary: one of the animators illustrating scenes. 

The report also included archived footage of North Korea's prison camps and government activities. Further, we see Findlay reporting in South Korea and speaking with North Koreans who've escaped before. She is more involved with the storytelling, whereas Guttenfelder's Instagram photos depict him as an observer, never seen in front of the lens. 

This documentary goes beyond just photos and conducts in-depth interviews and an detailed look into the lives of people who succeeded in leaving North Korea. Their descriptions of the oppressive and dictatorial regime of Kim Jung Il were a more clear explanation to the way they live their lives compared to Guttenfelder's Instagram photos. This documentary explored issues of globalization and its absence in North Korea. 

In conclusion, it becomes clear how important it is to integrate citizen journalism into the realm of mainstream media. Through David's Instagram photos, we are able to receive photos instantaneously that magnify North Korea's way of life. On the other hand, with documentaries, we are able to learn beyond photos and form a more complete story, especially by interviewing the main subjects crucial to the narrative. Finally, it is important to be open to different techniques of journalism, and to go further than the regular framework. The animation used to complete the story is arguably as filter used to prevent the banality of the war images and the gruesome reality of suffering in North Korea. It highlights the balance we need in the way we tell the story, which reflects the balance we need in our realities. This displayed perhaps the harm and disadvantages of lacking globalized media and resources in a society. It became an ironic comparison between Noam Chomsky's description of a bewildered herd at the hands of media, and the North Korean's as the bewildered herd at the hands of a ruthless dictator. It calls on us to be fully aware of the information that we not only receive, but what is beyond it.