Honorable Mention / 2020 / Press / Travel/Tourism

• Photographer
  Ted Lau, Hong Kong

North Korea is a very surreal place. In media, there are plenty of news and opinions about the country. But for me it was still shrouded in mystery and I wanted to learn more about this isolated land.

Rumininating on my experience there, the words “work will set you free” struck me. To me, this very fittingly describes the people of North Korea. Like us, with work they can improve their lives, and they are rewarded for it. But at the end of the day, they do not have the freedom to choose. You work and work and hope to earn your freedom, but in the end you realise it's just a empty husk.