THE LIFE OF HA EUN
Ha Eun is a North Korean millennial who defected to South Korea. She constantly day-dreamed about the outside world, as foreign media became the window through which she perceived the world beyond her own. Her story is a testament to the human spirit, resilience, and capabilities and creativity of North Koreans.
Follow the journey of Ha Eun, her musings, fashion explorations, struggles, interpretation of the regime as well as her new earned freedom through this fashion photo narrative.
This set of fashion photographs vacillates between the the shadows from her past that hold on to her, and the light of her bright future that constantly draws her in. It particularly highlights the ideological changes she goes through, and its relationship with foreign media such as k-dramas as well as the fashion inspirations that come from it. As we look onto her past with a nostalgic eye, it sheds light on the cost of freedom and the pain of separation that follows it.
This set of fashion photographs translates the personal life stories and recounts of Ha Eun, created by photographer, Cheryl Faith.
POCKET ONE;
THE NORTH KOREAN WAY
“One Dream,
One Way, One Aspiration,
that is the North Korean Way.”
"For the advancement of the state."
"Differences and non-conformity are not allowed."
 |  |  |  |
|---|
POCKET TWO;
IDEOLOGICAL CHANGES
“Foreign media was electrifying.
It helped me realised the realities
of the world beyond my own.”
“We watched foreign media
under drawn curtains."
“For the first time in life, I was
introduced to the concept of Love.”
POCKET THREE;
EMULATING
“I really wanted to emulate the
outfits of the female characters.”
“I would either go to the merchants at a huge port,
to look for similar clothing, as they had many
second-handed goods imported.”
“If I could not find it, I would get a piece with similar fabric,
and get the seamstress to make the exact
piece that I wanted.”
 |  |  |
|---|
POCKET FOUR;
LOVE FOR JEANS
“For the North Korean regime,
jeans are the symbol of freedom
and capitalism.”
“My interpretation of the oppression over jeans is that the
regime thinks that jeans might be too much of
a ‘land slide’.”
“I loved wearing jeans, and I I really wanted to wear jeans. But they would cut my jeans with a pair of scissors, and because it looks horrible once they’ve cut it, I could no longer
wear it.”
 |  |  |  |
|---|
 |  |
|---|
POCKET FIVE;
DAY-DREAM
“Dressing like the characters of
the dramas, made me feel like I could live in a
different reality. In a reality marked
with freedom.”
“I wouldn’t say there is completely no liberty in
North Korea. That would be a false statement.
But the freedom there is supercial.”
“There are strict restrictions on what I could wear,
and what I could eat. It was
superficial and fundamental
freedom was lacking.”
 |  |
|---|
 |  |
|---|
POCKET SIX;
VACILLATING LIGHTS
“I wanted to see more,
I wanted to be in a freer atmosphere,
I wanted to see the world for myself.”
“I contemplated about my leaving for a period of time.
When I departed my house, I felt a little scared,
and I retracted. After giving thought, and thinking of “whether I should do this, whether I should not,” I went."
 |  |  |
|---|
POCKET SEVEN;
THE SEPARATION & LONGING
“Within my memory,
they are frozen in time.
I really miss my family and friends.
I can’t imagine them being
older or getting old.
I want to see them again
before we are all gone.”
 |  |  |
|---|
POCKET EIGHT;
THE LIGHT OF
REDEMPTION
“I struggled to assimilate into my
new found freedom. I wanted to go
back badly, many times.
“It took me three years to overcome.
Now I would not trade my
freedom for anything.”
 |  |  |
|---|
POCKET NINE;
RESTORED COMFORT
IN
THE LIGHT
“A sense of acceptance.
A sense of coming to terms.
Coming to a place of being
comfortable with what I’ve been through -
the point where I’m able to look
back, with a sense of acceptance, and nostalgia.”
