A Photographic Series by Dave Kulesza | Collingwood, VIC, Australia

Photographer Dave Kulesza’s ‘DPRK: North Korea in Colour’ series represents a three-year fascination with one of the world’s most secretive societies and a three-day journey into a land shrouded in mystery.

Like all great adventures, the starting point was a distinct moment of inspiration. For Dave Kulesza, the Changgwang Health & Recreation Complex Diving Board was where it all began. “In January 2017, I stumbled upon an image of the North Korean swimming pool complex by chance,” explains Dave. “The diving board and the colours around it appeared out of this world, Wes Anderson-eque would be the perfect term to describe it.” This image was Dave’s window into a visual side of North Korea, a world seldom seen in television news reports and newspaper pages. Once down the rabbit hole, an idea began to develop – an idea that grew into an obsession with a colourful society that was strongly juxtaposed with the common preconceptions we associate with a country defined by military and political stereotypes.

The Changgwang Health & Recreation Complex Diving Board.

North Korean Metro Station.

Dave’s fantasy about creating a body of work that not only showcased North Korean architecture, but also the history, origins and all the social elements that link the country together, became a reality earlier this year when he travelled across the Chinese border to the capital, Pyongyang. “You immediately arrive at a customs train station after crossing the bridge and that’s when you experience your first gasp when laying eyes on it, the portraits of past leaders Kim Il-Sung & Kim Jong-Il, hanging over the building,” elaborates Dave. “It’s the moment you realise you are in a very foreign place.”

“Wes Anderson-eque would be the perfect term to describe it.”

What followed was a three-day adventure set against a backdrop of brutalist architecture, awe-inspiring acts of human accomplishment, propaganda on a grand scale, scenes that at times bordered on the absurd and snapshots from a country stuck in time. “A family member of mine, Matt Kulesza, a seasoned Western guide from tour group Young Pioneers, has been working in and out of the country for 3 years and capped over 70 tours,” says Dave. “Matt’s influence helped me see past the common stereotypes and experience the city from a reasonably authentic perspective.”

The culmination of Dave’s journey is a print series focusing on Pyongyang, explored through its architecture and interior design. “There seemed to be a strong North Korean style which was quite infectious to capture,” he says. “At times, it felt like I was walking through a surreal time capsule, then next moment I would imagine I was on location at a detailed film set that was so perfectly constructed that it was hard to believe it even existed at all.”

“It’s the moment you realise you are in a very foreign place.”

The absence of human presence was a deliberate theme established by Dave throughout the series. The documentation of a sanitised version of North Koran society was not his primary objective, instead people were added to imagery to hero the immense scale and context of North Korean architecture. “Colour was so strong indoors, but it was the large propaganda murals where I sourced my inspiration for the external treatments,” he says. “Scenes depicting nostalgic moments of past leaders, Kim Il-Sung & Kim Jong-Il in various backdrops, inspired this eccentric direction.”

Propaganda scenes depicting nostalgic moments of past leaders inspired the eccentric direction of the series.

The Workers Party Monument.

Human inhabitancy was used for a scale at the Three Revolutions Museum.

With his ‘DPRK: North Korea in Colour’ exhibition opening later this month and the release of an accompanying book that he hopes can instil feelings of avid curiosity in all that view it, Dave’s three-year vision has become a reality. Reflecting on his experiences, he offers this advice to those wishing to travel beyond the veil of mystery that surrounds the country. “Go with an open mind. Leave your preconceptions behind and experience what they have to offer,” he says. “North Korea is like nowhere else, it’s essentially impervious to the outside world and this is what makes it so unique.”

‘DPRK: North Korea in Colour’ opens at 6pm on the 28th of November and can be viewed at 178 Johnston street, Collingwood until the 8th of December.