Son Kum Ju, 29, Cleaner, Sinhungsan Hotel, Hamhung

Maker Tancic, Matjaž Slovenian, b. 1982

Date2014; printed 2016

MediumInkjet print

Dimensionsimage: 23 9/16 in x 35 3/8 in; paper: 25 1/8 in x 37 11/16 in

Credit LineGift of the artist

Object number2015:299

About the ArtistIn 2014, at the invitation of the Koryo Studio, a Beijing-based gallery facilitating cross-cultural artistic exchange, Slovenian photographer Matjaž Tancic undertook a unique portrait project in North Korea. Photographing ordinary citizens—a boxing champion learning to ice skate, hotel cleaners and tourist guides, girls practicing their marksmanship at Meari Shooting Range—he has made more than one hundred portraits to date. Tancic circumvents the all-too-common tendency of the media to portray North Korea in extremes. Avoiding both sensationalistic demonization and propagandistic idealization, he photographs people with whom we might empathize. Tancic shoots with 3D film, a nod to the popularity of anachronistic, stereoscopic postcards in North Korea. His ambition to portray people as they actually are, however, is complicated by the context in which he works. Perhaps more importantly, Tancic’s photographs point to a central concern: to what extent is it possible to authentically represent those living in a totalitarian state without succumbing to its propagandistic facade?

Matjaž completed a Fashion Photography BA from the London College of Fashion. He has held solo exhibitions at Pékin Fine Arts, Beijing, China (2015); Circulations Photo Festival, Paris; Somerset House, London; the Asian Society, Texas; the Venice Architecture Biennale, Italy; and others. He was awarded first prize at the Sony World Photography Organization contest in the 3D category, three separate first prizes at Slovenia Press Photo awards, and finalist at the Google Photography Prize. Matjaž has carried out projects for National Geographic, The New York Times, LA Times, The Guardian, Time, and Vogue. He has published three photo books with Jiazazhi Press, a top Chinese independent publishing house.