Profile Spotlight: Steve Gong

[Profile Spotlights]

SteveGongCut ODOE from ODOE Community Uploads on Vimeo.

 

Who are you and what is your profession? Can you tell us a little about your background and upbringing? What inspired you to become a photographer/filmmaker?
I was born in China, grew up in Italy, attended university in the US, and I currently live and work in London. Having lived and grown up in many different countries, I feel like I can't just say one country when somebody meets me for the first time and asks me where I'm from. As a matter of fact, I believe the concept of nationality is somewhat divisive and exclusionary.

By the same token, feel like I can't define myself by one profession or discipline. Although I use a camera, the things I make with it are cross disciplinary. I studied Biology and Psychology in university, and did a year's worth of genetics research on the effects of cocaine on mutated fruit flies. After that I wrote language curriculums for Rosetta Stone. I then started a photography company with a friend and then decided to get a master's in Photojournalism in London. Right after that, I took on a job as a broker of financial derivatives, which is what I do now. The fact that I work in finance now doesn't mean I'm giving up the other things that I did in the past. I'm constantly finding ways to integrate the things that I've learned.

Who or what do you most admire?
Ferris Bueller

What inspired you to go to North Korea?
I think being exposed to very different environments has caused me to develop an innate curiosity for anything that initially appears inexplicable. My interest in North Korea started because of how secretive, and how little information we have about them. It made me wonder just what exactly is on that land. I also remembered that when I was in elementary school, I once asked my South Korean classmate if he was from North or South Korea. He got really angry with me for even mentioning North Korea, and at the time I didn't understand why.

Where in North Korea did you visit? You've been to North Korea twice, the first time in 2008. Did you see any changes this time round?
The itinerary for the two trips that I made were slightly different. Although both times I visited Pyongyang, I was taken to different parts of it. For the two trips combined, other than Pyongyang, I visited Kaesong, Nampho, Sinuiju, and Myohyang-san. Myohyang is actually the brand name of the absolute top North Korean cigarettes. I don't really smoke, but I bought a pack from a girl who was selling cigarettes, and she insisted that I open it then and try it. Barely after I took my first drag, she eagerly asked me if I liked it. I said "yes", and then she thanked me!

The two trips were actually really different, though, keep in mind that the second time I went was right during the 65th anniversary parade. On this recent trip, I noticed that a lot of the people had completely new, and redesigned shiny black work suits, which looked really good - it actually reminded me of people in suits Seoul. Also, this time round, a lot of people now have cellphones - the little black Chinese phones that I'd never actually seen before, color screen, slide out phones, and one guy had a polyphonic ringtone of this song "Rhythm of the Rain" which is actually a classic American song.

Do you feel you recorded an accurate picture of daily life in North Korea?
It's absolutely true that in a North Korean tour, you're only shown what they want to show you, and while I have no delusions about the bigger picture, everything that was shown in my video is still the real North Korea - just the best of North Korea. I think it's important to maintain a critical and freethinking mind all the time, whether in Pyongyang or Seoul or anywhere else. The only thing I hope for is that the video might raise questions, and get people interested to find out and learn more about Korea.

Finally, One Day on Earth will be filming again on 11.11.11. How will you top this?
I've always wanted to visit Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia.

 

Pyongyang Style from Steve Gong on Vimeo.

 

See footage from Steve's first trip to North Korea here:

 

Anhui from Steve Gong on Vimeo.