Wong Maye-E/AP Photo
Photographer Wong Maye-E asked North Koreans, "what's important to you?"
For the past three years Associated Press photographer Wong Maye-E has been working to gain the trust of those she photographs in North Korea. In the authoritian country that has zero tolerance for those who express objection to its government, or their leader Kim Jong Un - Maye-E has had to work in an environment where trust in the forgein media is greatly lacking.When interacting with her subjects, Maye-E first takes their photo with a instant camera, and gives them a copy of their picture. This small interaction helps break the ice for her next set of questions: "what's important to you?" and, "what's your life motto?"
Their answers, as Maye-E says, usually worked around the theme of propaganda. "A lot of their answers were based on the theme of protecting their fatherland, protecting their current leader Kim Jung Un, or pleasing him," she said in an interview with AP. Ahead, 14 portraits of North Koreans along with their telling responses to Maye-E's questions.