Meet the Artists – JT Singh and Rob Whitworth

Having waded into the creative pool of time-lapse photography from time to time, I have an pretty good idea how much time and effort goes into a project like the one I am sharing below. The relatively new and up and coming technique called Hyper-lapse however is off the charts! I actually attempted a little of it while moving the camera from the audience to backstage and then to front of house in this time-lapse here, but then again, I was not in North Korea. I was in a comfortable ballroom and my hyper lapse portion of the clip took all of 5 minutes to create (and it looked like it as well!)

You must admit, this is some CRAZY cool art!

Here is a little bit about it from their vimeo post……

“Enter Pyongyang” is another stunning collaboration between city-­branding pioneer JT Singh and flow-motion videographer Rob Whitworth. Blending time-lapse photography, acceleration and slow motion, HD and digital animation, they have produced a cutting‐edge panorama of a city hardly known, but one emerging on the visitor’s landscape as North Korea’s opening unfolds.

North Korea was the last country seemingly immune to change—but no longer. Recent years have witnessed mobile phone penetration, a surge in tourists, and even a marathon. Numerous special economic zones have been launched in cooperation with China, Russia, and South Korea, with railways planned linking all countries in the region. “Enter Pyongyang” captures not just the city, but this dynamism and sense of potential.

This video is the single most significant multi-­media contribution to transcending clichés about North Korea as a society defined by reclusiveness and destitution. To travel there is to witness a proud civilization, though one caught in a Cold War time-warp. Korean cultural traditions are meticulously preserved and displayed in authentic richness. Anyone who has witnessed the awe-inspiring Mass Games knows that, with great sacrifice, North Koreans can pull off a performance unparalleled in its precision.

“Enter Pyongyang” captures the reality of North Korean citizens as earnest and humane, not automatons. The infamous traffic ladies and subway guards stand stiff and sentinel—but today they share a smile too. The more North Koreans one meets, the more one sees an organic society that wants to be a normal country. If you travel there not to judge but to appreciate, you will come away with a better understanding of how challenging national transformation can be.

“Enter Pyongyang” is above all an invitation to explore. Few places in the world have been as hermetically sealed as North Korea, but Koryo Tours has made it possible not just to see North Korea but to engage with it in ways that were impossible until very recently. This is a window of opportunity not to be missed. If Pyongyang is no longer off limits, no place is.

–Foreword by Dr. Parag Khanna, Director, Hybrid Reality

Enter Pyongyang from JT Singh on Vimeo. 

To check out more of the amazing moving art of Rob and JT, follow their work here!

JT Singh                     Website ,  Facebook, and Twitter

Rob Whitworth       Website , Facebook , and  Twitter