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via LensCulture: http://www.lensculture.com/webloglc/mt_files/archives/2010/10/north-korea.html
VII, The Magazine, in partnership with Lens Culture, released a rare glimpse inside contemporary North Korea, with this colorful slideshow. The soundtrack is a trippy heroic anthem called, “The Unforgettable Top Of Mount Osung” and is recorded by The Korean People’s Army Merited Chorus.
Even before the floods hit, the peace and beauty of Pakistan’s Swat valley had been shattered by a Taliban invasion and a violent army counter offensive. Up to two million people were displaced by the fighting. It was only in the Spring of this year that the Pakistani army managed to bring this rugged and picturesque area—once referred to as the “Switzerland of Pakistan”—back under government control.
And then the second storm hit. Heavy monsoon rains turned the Swat river into a devastating force, pulling houses off the banks and collapsing roads. According to Pakistani officials, every bridge across the river was destroyed. Towns and villages were suddenly cut off from the rest of the world, leaving foot trails and helicopter flights as the only way to bring in relief supplies. At a one helipad, the photographer watched as some flights were loaded with food and disaster aid, while others were loaded only with soldiers, weaponry and ammunition.
Link: Storm in the Swat Valley – By Tomas van Houtryve / VII Network
Afghanistan-based photographer Andrea Bruce, who has worked extensively in Iraq as a staff and contract photographer for The Washington Post, and Paris-based photographer Tomas van Houtryve, who won 2010 Photographer of the Year from POYi, have joined the VII Network. Both are new to VII.
Link: VII Photo Announces New Network and Mentor Program Photographers – PDN Pulse
Photographer Tomas van Houtryve has won POYi’s Photographer of the Year award in the freelance/agency category. His portfolio included several critical essays about the social and political effects of entrenched communist regimes in Moldova, Cuba and China. The second place award went to Getty staff photographer Paula Bronstein, while Marcus Bleasdale, a member of VII, won third place.
Link: Van Houtryve Wins POYi’s Freelance Photographer of the Year Award
Photojournalist Enters ‘Surreal’ North Korea in Ruse – TIME:
In 2007 and 2008, photojournalist Tomas Van Houtryve visited North Korea by infiltrating a communist solidarity delegation. In the first of a three-part TIME.com series, he reports on the elaborate ruse that is required to enter the world’s most isolated country.
panos.co.uk says:
Adopting the persona of a Belgian chocolate magnate, complete with disguise and funny accent, Tomas van Houtryve made his second trip to North Korea in February 2008. Despite his credentials as a foreign businessman keen to invest in the country, he faced hours of interrogation, was threatened by apparatchiks, and at one point was almost exposed as a journalist. His bold tactics gave him access to factories, hospitals and government offices, some of which had never before been seen by a Western photographer. He was also able to catch a fleeting glimpse of the lives of ordinary people.
Via dvafoto
From PDN:
Photojournalist Tomas van Houtryve has been covering political unrest in Nepal for years, from the rise in power of King Gyanendra Shah to the secretive Maoist insurgency. This spring, when popular outrage against the monarch reached a boiling point, he knew he had to return to Kathmandu.
“When we arrived in the neighborhood of Kalanki, a full street battle was taking place. A riot policeman initially screamed threats at me to stop taking pictures, but soon they were too overwhelmed by rock throwing protesters to worry about us. The air stung with tear gas as I followed charging police toward the crowd. One of the officers was firing an assault rifle just over the heads of demonstrators. My main challenge was trying to get between the two sides to take photos while finding enough cover to keep clear from the volleys of rocks and bullets. I raced into a field with retreating protesters and one pulled me into a room where injured people were splayed across the floor.”
Here.