Looking
for a change in life, a photographer from Romania turned her life upside down
by starting a photo series of women from different parts of the world. She has
visited more than 37 countries, but North Korea turned out to be a very special
place.
Sick of her ordinary life, Mihaela Noroc quit her
boring job and decided to go into photography full-time. She dared to
stake everything she had in life when she was on holiday abroad. In less than two years, she
has visited around 37 countries and has no intention of stopping. She knew
that North Korea was a unique place, but it completely exceeded all of her most
daring expectations. This is the first photo project focused exclusively
on North Korean women, Noroc claims, and she totally nails it. “When entering North Korea you step in a different world… That’s why I
decided to explore and photograph this subject, something mostly unknown for
the rest of the world,” she said. Beauty is
diversity – that’s why the photoshoot features women of different age, status
and profession. Noroc found her models at bus stops and beaches, in the parks,
cafes, museums – wherever her
feet took her (of course with some limitations,
don’t forget she was in North Korea). Since North Korean society is very
closed, sometimes it wasn’t that easy to talk women into taking part in the
project. For some, it was the first time talking to a foreigner. Despite
the country’s isolation, women still pay a lot of attention to their appearance
there. Women don bright and colorful traditional clothes on every special
occasion and celebration. And here things get even more interesting – female TV
announcers in North Korea wear these costumes literally every evening. It may sound
strange – and not so conservative – but North Korean women are big fans of high
heels. “We
shouldn’t lose our cultures, traditions, and origins because these make us
different and beautiful,” says the
traveling photographer. Another – and a
bit more political – fashion trend is to wear a pins bearing the images of the
country's leaders. “While
neighboring South Korea has the world’s highest rate of cosmetic plastic
surgeries, North Korean women live in a different world,” she stressed. The ultimate goal of the project is to prove that beauty is all around. Noroc
also hopes to provide unity through diversity.
Sick of her ordinary life, Mihaela Noroc quit her
boring job and decided to go into photography full-time. She dared to
stake everything she had in life when she was on holiday abroad. In less than two years, she
has visited around 37 countries and has no intention of stopping. She knew
that North Korea was a unique place, but it completely exceeded all of her most
daring expectations. This is the first photo project focused exclusively
on North Korean women, Noroc claims, and she totally nails it. “When entering North Korea you step in a different world… That’s why I
decided to explore and photograph this subject, something mostly unknown for
the rest of the world,” she said. Beauty is
diversity – that’s why the photoshoot features women of different age, status
and profession. Noroc found her models at bus stops and beaches, in the parks,
cafes, museums – wherever her 
