It is already going down in history: The Football World Cup 2010. Because for the first time, football's biggest event is taking place in Africa and for the first time North and South Korea are taking part at the same time.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany, June 16, 2010 (PRESSbooth.ORG) -- It is already going down in history: The Football World Cup 2010. Because for the first time, football's biggest event is taking place in Africa and for the first time North and South Korea are taking part at the same time. Since the Korean War in the early 1950s, Korea has been divided and since the sinking in March 2010 of a South Korean warship, the situation between the two countries in their permanent "Cold War" has been escalating.
The contrasts in the divided land are being shown by the photographer Tom Abraham from 11 June on the English-language website www.koryography.com. The division of the country is reflected throughout the portfolio: In a separate category of the website, the photographer directly contrasts selected pictures from North and South Korea sorted by theme, supplemented by politically motivated videos and texts from the North Korean government. "What intrigues me in particular is the development of the country, what North and South Korea have which separates them, and what they have in common", Tom Abraham recounts and adds: "In the case of North Korea, I think above all of a closed society, living under a dictatorship. If I think of South Korea on the other hand, then the first things that come to mind are high-tech, Tae-Kwon-Do and gymnasts."
In May of this year Tom Abraham travelled throughout both parts of the country. To start with he spent two weeks in North Korea: "It was a period of time without the media, without a laptop and without a mobile phone – back to the past", as Abraham remembers. During his trip the photographer was subjected to constant observation and accompanied by government officials. Afterwards Tom Abraham visited densely populated South Korea and had to get used to accustomed freedoms once again, such as taking photographs without prior permission.
"Football brings together the most different of nations", Abraham is convinced. So at this year's World Cup, for instance, Jong Tae-Se who was born Japanese but with South Korean nationality, will be in the North Korean line-up. On the pitch, the earliest the two Korean teams can meet will be in the semi-finals. "But perhaps this World Cup might be the kick-off for them to come closer on a political level", the photographer hopes.
Further information at: www.koryography.com
About Tom Abraham:
Tom Abraham was born in 1981 in Jena and himself grew up in a divided country. Not least for this reason does the photographer show particular interest in divided and reunited nations. Already in 2007 with Vietnam he travelled one of these rare countries and in 2009 published a comprehensive photo portfolio (www.piecepeace.com).
The photographer, who lives in Frankfurt am Main, is familiar with Asian culture, among other things, having spent time as a student in Bali. Due to his existing Website portfolio (www.lndividual.de) he has already won international recognition and received for example the American Design Award (www.americandesignawards.com), as well as the Dope Award (www.dopeawards.com). He is currently cooperating with the artists' portal seen.by, part of Spiegel Online (http://seen.by.spiegel.de) to produce a limited edition of his pictures.
Contact:
Tom Abraham
urbanatur concept
Vogelsbergstr. 31
60316 Frankfurt, Germany
+49178/4977337
info @ koryography.com
http://www.koryography.com
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