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The release of a giant, unaltered portrait of Kim Jong Un had an inevitable response
The release of a giant, unaltered portrait of Kim Jong Un had an inevitable response
By Adam Taylor
May 18
This photo was distributed May 11 by the North Korean government. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Last week, North Korea took a step that surprised some outside analysts. It released a giant, high-resolution portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Remarkably, the photograph appeared not to have been digitally edited. This was the real Kim, flaws and all.
It was a seemingly out-of-character move for a country with a long history of digitally altering photographs for propaganda purposes. Some analysts even reasoned that the North Korean state might be trying to send a message with the image, perhaps even portraying North Korea as a “normal” country whose leader, while treated like a god by North Korean citizens, wasn’t vain at all.
Whatever the intention, if any, behind the release of the image, the response was inevitable: a race to digitally edit Kim.
At least three battles are taking place, the Huffington Post reports, on the websites Bored Panda, Twitter and Reddit. You can see a small selection of those images below.
By Adam Taylor
May 18
This photo was distributed May 11 by the North Korean government. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Last week, North Korea took a step that surprised some outside analysts. It released a giant, high-resolution portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Remarkably, the photograph appeared not to have been digitally edited. This was the real Kim, flaws and all.
It was a seemingly out-of-character move for a country with a long history of digitally altering photographs for propaganda purposes. Some analysts even reasoned that the North Korean state might be trying to send a message with the image, perhaps even portraying North Korea as a “normal” country whose leader, while treated like a god by North Korean citizens, wasn’t vain at all.
Whatever the intention, if any, behind the release of the image, the response was inevitable: a race to digitally edit Kim.
At least three battles are taking place, the Huffington Post reports, on the websites Bored Panda, Twitter and Reddit. You can see a small selection of those images below.
