While American photographer Sam Gellman spends his days working for transportation technology start-up Uber in Hong Kong, he has long been a travel photography nut.
He's made a habit of traveling to uncommon places that don't usually go on other travelers' radars.
When in 2011, he got a chance to travel to North Korea through Beijing-based Koryo Tours, he jumped.
While in the isolated nation, he was ushered around by his North Korean guides, who, in between spouting anti-American rhetoric, made sure that he saw just how well the country was doing.
What he found was that, despite the strong antagonism between the United States and North Korea, the people were not that much different.
"For me, I was most intrigued by the fact that the people are in many ways similar to us," Gellman told The World radio program.
Gellman shared some of the pictures from the trip with us. You can see more of his work at his website or on his Flickr.
Guides were present at every part of Gellman's tour and were initially nervous when he began photographing.
This is one of the two subway stations in Pyongyang that Gellman was allowed to photograph.
A father takes a picture of his kids on an arcade game. Gellman says that, while people do have cellphones, they can only call inside North Korea.
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