John Rich's color photographs, seen for the first time after more than half a century, offer a vivid glimpse of the "forgotten" conflict" />
Children in Seoul in the winter of 1950-1951 "I never thought anything would come of them," John Rich says of the some 1,000 personal photographs that he made as a reporter during the war.

John Rich

One Man's Korean War

Reporter John Rich's color photographs, seen for the first time after more than half a century, offer a vivid glimpse of the "forgotten" conflict

  • By Abigail Tucker
  • Smithsonian magazine, November 2008

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    On the June morning in 1950 when war broke out in Korea, John Rich was ensconced in what he calls a "correspondents villa" in coastal Japan, anticipating a long soak in a wooden tub with steam curling off the surface and a fire underneath. Rich's editor at the International News Service had other plans. "Get your fanny back to Tokyo!" he bellowed over the phone. Days later, the 32-year-old reporter was on a landing ship loaded with artillery and bound for Pusan, Korea.

    Along with notebooks and summer clothes, Rich carried some Kodachrome film and his new camera, a keepsake from a recent field trip to a Japanese lens factory led by the Life magazine photographer David Douglas Duncan. Rich, who was fluent in Japanese after a World War II stint as an interpreter with the Marines, had tagged along to translate. "It was a little company called Nikon," he recalls.

    Over the next three years, between filing stories for the wire service and, later, radio and television dispatches for NBC News, Rich snapped close to 1,000 color photographs of wartime Korea. The pictures were meant to be souvenirs, nothing more. "I'd walk around and bang, bang, bang," says Rich, now 91, with hair like dandelion fluff. "If something looked good, I'd shoot away." He photographed from helicopters, on foot and from the rickety jeep he says he bartered for "four bottles of rotgut whiskey." He photographed prisoners of war on Geoje Island and British gunners preparing to fire on occupied Seoul. And he searched out scenes from ordinary life, capturing Korean children at play and women pounding laundry in a river. With color only a click away, Rich was drawn to radiant subjects: in his photographs, little girls wear yellow and fuchsia; purple eggplants gleam in the marketplace; guns spew orange flame.

    He had no idea then that the pictures would constitute perhaps the most extensive collection of color photographs of the Korean War. Though Kodachrome had been around since the mid-1930s, World War II had slowed its spread, and photographers continued to favor black-and-white for its greater technical flexibility, not to mention marketability—the major periodicals had yet to publish in color. Duncan, Carl Mydans and other famous photojournalists working in Korea still used black-and-white film almost exclusively.

    Rich bought film whenever he was on leave in Japan, and he sent pictures out for processing, but he barely glanced at the developed transparencies, which he tucked away for safekeeping. Rich's Nikon was stolen after the war, and he largely gave up taking photographs.

    Then, about a decade ago, Rich, long retired to his birthplace of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, mentioned to a neighbor that he had color slides from the combat years in his attic in a Japanese tea chest. The neighbor, a photographer and Korean War buff, almost toppled over. Rich understood why when he started reviewing the pictures. The "Forgotten War" came back to him in a rush of emerald rice paddies and cyclones of gray smoke. "Those white hills, that blue, blue sea," he says. "I lay awake at night, reliving the war."

    A few of the pictures surfaced in Rich's local newspaper, the Portland Press Herald, and in a South Korean paper after Rich visited the country in the late 1990s. And they were featured this past summer in "The Korean War in Living Color: Photographs and Recollections of a Reporter," an exhibition at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. These pages mark their debut in a national publication.

    The photographs have claimed a unique place in war photography, from the blurry daguerreotypes of the Mexican-American War to Vietnam, when color images became more commonplace, to the digital works now coming out of the Middle East. Once a history confined to black-and-white suddenly materializes in color, it's always a bit startling, says Fred Ritchin, a New York University photography professor who studies conflict images: "When you see it in color you do a double take. Color makes it contemporary."

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    On the June morning in 1950 when war broke out in Korea, John Rich was ensconced in what he calls a "correspondents villa" in coastal Japan, anticipating a long soak in a wooden tub with steam curling off the surface and a fire underneath. Rich's editor at the International News Service had other plans. "Get your fanny back to Tokyo!" he bellowed over the phone. Days later, the 32-year-old reporter was on a landing ship loaded with artillery and bound for Pusan, Korea.

    Along with notebooks and summer clothes, Rich carried some Kodachrome film and his new camera, a keepsake from a recent field trip to a Japanese lens factory led by the Life magazine photographer David Douglas Duncan. Rich, who was fluent in Japanese after a World War II stint as an interpreter with the Marines, had tagged along to translate. "It was a little company called Nikon," he recalls.

    Over the next three years, between filing stories for the wire service and, later, radio and television dispatches for NBC News, Rich snapped close to 1,000 color photographs of wartime Korea. The pictures were meant to be souvenirs, nothing more. "I'd walk around and bang, bang, bang," says Rich, now 91, with hair like dandelion fluff. "If something looked good, I'd shoot away." He photographed from helicopters, on foot and from the rickety jeep he says he bartered for "four bottles of rotgut whiskey." He photographed prisoners of war on Geoje Island and British gunners preparing to fire on occupied Seoul. And he searched out scenes from ordinary life, capturing Korean children at play and women pounding laundry in a river. With color only a click away, Rich was drawn to radiant subjects: in his photographs, little girls wear yellow and fuchsia; purple eggplants gleam in the marketplace; guns spew orange flame.

    He had no idea then that the pictures would constitute perhaps the most extensive collection of color photographs of the Korean War. Though Kodachrome had been around since the mid-1930s, World War II had slowed its spread, and photographers continued to favor black-and-white for its greater technical flexibility, not to mention marketability—the major periodicals had yet to publish in color. Duncan, Carl Mydans and other famous photojournalists working in Korea still used black-and-white film almost exclusively.

    Rich bought film whenever he was on leave in Japan, and he sent pictures out for processing, but he barely glanced at the developed transparencies, which he tucked away for safekeeping. Rich's Nikon was stolen after the war, and he largely gave up taking photographs.

    Then, about a decade ago, Rich, long retired to his birthplace of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, mentioned to a neighbor that he had color slides from the combat years in his attic in a Japanese tea chest. The neighbor, a photographer and Korean War buff, almost toppled over. Rich understood why when he started reviewing the pictures. The "Forgotten War" came back to him in a rush of emerald rice paddies and cyclones of gray smoke. "Those white hills, that blue, blue sea," he says. "I lay awake at night, reliving the war."

    A few of the pictures surfaced in Rich's local newspaper, the Portland Press Herald, and in a South Korean paper after Rich visited the country in the late 1990s. And they were featured this past summer in "The Korean War in Living Color: Photographs and Recollections of a Reporter," an exhibition at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. These pages mark their debut in a national publication.

    The photographs have claimed a unique place in war photography, from the blurry daguerreotypes of the Mexican-American War to Vietnam, when color images became more commonplace, to the digital works now coming out of the Middle East. Once a history confined to black-and-white suddenly materializes in color, it's always a bit startling, says Fred Ritchin, a New York University photography professor who studies conflict images: "When you see it in color you do a double take. Color makes it contemporary."

    Rich, who covered the Korean War in its entirety, remembers two colors the most: the Windex blue of the ocean and sky, and the brown of sandbags, dusty roads and fields of ginseng. In his photographs, though, red seems the most vivid. It's the shade of Betty Hutton's pumps as she danced for the troops, and the diamonds on the argyle socks of the Scottish regiment that marched to bagpipes squealing "Highland Laddie" (a memory Rich invariably relates with liberal rolling of r's). Photographers, in fact, long revered Kodachrome for its vibrant crimsons and garnets. And yet, during Vietnam, these reds also led some critics to argue that war should not be photographed in color. "We hadn't seen the injured in red before," says Anne Tucker, curator of photography at Houston's Museum of Fine Arts, which is planning an exhibition of war images. To be sure, Rich's collection does not dwell on death, though it includes a picture taken south of Seoul in the spring of 1951 of two fallen Chinese soldiers and a scarlet splash on the ground.

    Wearing pressed charcoal pants and house slippers, Rich shuffles industriously around his seaside cottage, where even the windowsills are stacked with figurines and carvings collected during a reporter's well-traveled life. Working mostly for NBC News, he covered Vietnam and many of the major conflicts of the 20th century—including, remarkably, the first Gulf War, when he was in his 70s and armed with shaky credentials from a weekly newspaper in Maine. (He says he briefly contemplated shipping out to the latest Iraq conflict.) The son of a postman and a homemaker, he played tennis with future Japanese Emperor Akihito, traveled to China with Richard Nixon and lived beside barbed wire in a partitioned Berlin. Three of his four children live in Asia (the other is a U.S. magistrate in Portland), and his wife, Doris Lee (whom he met in Korea and calls his "Seoul mate"), is never far from his side.

    He has returned to his photographs because his eyesight is going. Glaucoma makes even reading the newspaper difficult and, especially when he wears the dark sunglasses he's prescribed, dims the goldenrod bouncing outside his door.

    Riffling through piles of prints, Rich pulls out one of a South Korean soldier with pink flowers lashed to his helmet. "This is when spring came to Korea," he explains. The bright blossoms don't look like camouflage: the young man must have wanted to be seen. And now, finally, he is.

    Abigail Tucker, the magazine's staff writer, last reported on the salmon crisis.


     
    Comments

    Is there a book available of John Richs photographs?

    Posted by Ed Reilly on October 23,2008 | 04:03PM

    It's like you're there...

    Posted by Steve Foster on October 24,2008 | 03:44PM

    I was hoping to see the photo of a Korean Soldier with spring flowers in his helmet as mentioned in the article in Smithsonian. Enjoyed the article very much. Marj Freda, Fallbrook, CA

    Posted by MARJ FREDA on October 24,2008 | 04:42PM

    I HAVE ALMOST 1,000 35MM KODAK COLOR SLIDES THAT I TOOK IN KOREA WHILE IN THE SERVICE FROM 1952 TO 1954. I WONDER IF MR RICH WOULD BE INTERESTED IN USING THEM FOR HIS COLLECTION.

    Posted by Joseph Browne on October 24,2008 | 08:29PM

    Does John Rich have photos of Korea 1952 which is when I served with the 40th Infantry Division?

    Posted by bob larson on October 25,2008 | 09:07AM

    Korean war images are in very short supply and of great interest and importance as a record of this time in our history. Are there any plans for publishing these images in book form?

    Posted by Philip Kay on October 26,2008 | 02:22PM

    First, I am the neighbor and photographer mentioned in the article who "almost toppled over" when I first saw John's collection of slides. There is no book yet, but John has been working on narrative to accompany the pictures and is about ready to begin discussions with one or more publishers. Joseph Browne, if you would kindly provide me with some contact information, I will inquire of John on your behalf. Bob Larson, yes, John's collection does encompass 1952. You can reach me via jack at kennealy dot com

    Posted by Jack Kennealy, Cape Elizabeth, Maine on October 26,2008 | 03:09PM

    As a Korean born in 1954 in Seoul, these photos of war time helped me understand what it was like at that time and What odeal our people had to go through. I appreciate Mr. Rich for his passionate works to record our past. One thing I think I should correct is a comment on old man, saying (right: a civilian with a walking stick and possible opium pipe). I know the pipe is not "possible opium pipe," it is normal pipe as anyone can own those days. I remember my grandfather had the similar one. And opium would be a very hard to find item in war time Korea or even now. I just wanted to speak up for this old gentle man who reminded me much of my grandfather. with much respect and love.

    Posted by Myungja Kim on October 27,2008 | 01:06PM

    I am a Korean American with age about same as the boy with his picture shown in your artilce. During my short life I have had four nationalities, one USA by choice, another Korea by birth right, third Japan by occupation, and firth Communist North Korea if that is different from being just a Korean. All during the time, life wasn't easy, but the worst period was the time described in your article. But strangely I also think about that period more often at my old age. Thank you for publishing the artcile. Visitors to Korea today will not be able to imagine what Korea was like at that time. I hope some day during my life time, more articles like yours will appear so that they will show how awful war can be. I once visited Ngasaki, Japan, but couldn't imagine it is the city where nuclear bom was dropped. May be we should have left as it was to show the generations to come that it was something they should never let happen again.

    Posted by Minyoung Lee on October 27,2008 | 05:59PM

    I was very shocked and offended by the caption one of these photos. A civilian with a walking stick and possible opium pipe. It sound like Korean men used opium and therefore they are irresponsible for their country. The pipe is tobacco pipe my grand father and most of the old people used in the village. It was a teaching and disciplinary tool and a symbol of authority. It is so wrong whoever put this caption without any effort to figure out what it was and put safe "possible" word in it.

    Posted by Mia Ackerson on October 28,2008 | 05:42AM

    What an incredible thing to see. My uncle fought in Korea and all I really have from his experience are a couple of scarves and the pearls he brought back to my grandmother. He died several years ago, before I really understood where he'd been. Thank you Mr. Rich for sharing these photographs that offer so much insight into a truly forgotten conflict.

    Posted by Megan on October 29,2008 | 06:09PM

    I was very happy to see the article in the Smithsonian Magazine and now to see more of the photographs is just wonderful. My ex husband and two of his brothers fought in that war. They never talked about it much, except how cold it was. Thank you Mr. John Rich and your neighbor in Maine Jack. How fortunate for everyone that you happened to mention that you had taken all those Kodachrome slides! Looking forward to you're book. Thanks again. Sincerely, Jackie Rave

    Posted by Jackie Rave on November 1,2008 | 02:27PM

    "As heavily damaged Seoul began to rebuild after the North Koreans fled in September 1950, residents tried to resume their daily lives." In the photo, "heavily damaged" is hardly an adequate description. How about "destroyed" or "in the aftermath of carpet bombing."

    Posted by Faye Muguet on November 3,2008 | 11:20AM

    I'm sure there was no malicious intent associated with the "possible opium" caption. It was just a guess on someone's part - and it was a reasonable guess too. If you will refer to a UN document on drug use in South Korea (http://www.unodc.un.or.th/drugsandhiv/projects/g22/20_southkorea_2.pdf), you will read that "After 1945, drug use became a serious social problem and with the commencement of the Korean War in 1950, the demand for opium increased. By 1954, opium use was widespread and the south of the country had an estimated 50,000 opium addicts." Thus, the notion posted above that "opium would be a very hard to find item in war time Korea" is a kind thought but apparently not closely aligned with actual history.

    Posted by Jack Kennealy on November 10,2008 | 08:19AM

    Is there going to be an exibit of his photos? Because they are so raw, I think everyone should see them.

    Posted by Agnes Huff on November 14,2008 | 09:30AM

    I read One Man's Korean War with interest and plan to send the magazine to my brother who served in the Korean War, 2nd Infantry Division. He took a 35mm camera with him and sent home hundreds of pictures (in color) and had his film developed when he came home. In his 70's now, he enjoys sharing these photos with friends and family. In 2005, he returned to Korea and was awarded an Official Proclamation naming him an Ambassador for Peace by Lee Sang-Hoon, General, ROKA, Ret, Chairman, The Korean Veterans Association.

    Posted by Katharine Giles on November 16,2008 | 04:34PM

    Awesome and beautifully presented photos. Can't wait see them all. Mr. Rich, Kamsahapnida (thank you in Korean).

    Posted by Ron Cullifer on November 18,2008 | 07:44AM

    The photo titled "Soldiers set up camp at an outpost near the front during the Korean winter." That seems to be Seoul below them...face south ward. You can see Namsan in the middle, behind it the Han river and in the distance the outline of Gwanak san. The soliders must have been setting up high vantage points on Bukhan san.

    Posted by Sean on November 18,2008 | 02:55PM

    It will be nice to see these photos. To the Korean posters, get over it with the opium pipe. Stop trying to "control" Korea's image. People will think whatever they want to think. Mr. Rich's photos show real unadulterated history, away from modern Korean propaganda. Its interesting how many Koreans are taught that the USA was evil for dividing Korea and America's great sacrifice in lives and treasure goes for the most part largely unappreciated by the people of Korea.

    Posted by Ah Seoul on November 18,2008 | 05:20PM

    As a Korean War Veteran (25th Division 27th Regiment (Wolfhounds)I would enjoy seeing all the photographs,as other Vets would. There is a national Korean War Veterans Association. It would be nice to notify them when the photos are available so that they can notify chapters all over the country (and the other 22 countries that participated)

    Posted by Jerry Bey on November 20,2008 | 09:23AM

    I was stationed in Seoul 1953-1954, arrived about 3 months before the armistice, and have around 750 color slides from there. My assignment was with the military railroad, and I made several trips up and down the double track main line and the single track East Coast Line. I hope to scan them into digital format, and make a database of the location of each one. I would send the roll to Hawaii for processing, with my wife's address for return. Then in my next letter, I'd include the log sheet for that roll with kilometer post, line, town, etc. So far it is just the famous "best laid plan." My "weapon" was an Argus C-3.

    Posted by Robert Johnson on November 20,2008 | 02:11PM

    That pipe wouldn't be the best for opium smoking and was a common tobacco pipe. Let's give the well dressed gentleman the benefit of a doubt. I have a particular fondness for Korea, I served there in 1975 and 1977-1981 or about 5 years in total.

    Posted by Barent Parslow on November 20,2008 | 04:21PM

    Just wondering if John Rich attended Deering High School. 1936, perhaps? Would love to know.

    Posted by Janice Black on November 26,2008 | 02:59PM

    It would be great to be able to view these photos sometime in the near future. I am a veteran of the Korean War with the 7th Infantry Division from June 1952 through July 1953. I am a member of the local Korean Veterans Association in Springfield, Mo. and the VFW post in Republic, Mo. I also have a few black and white photographs of the time of the war and would be willing to share them.

    Posted by Clyde Napier on December 1,2008 | 06:20AM

    Representing the Korean War National Museum, I served as a consultant for the NBC Nightly News telecast of the "John Rich" story - in a "Making a Difference" segment - in which a number of his color shots were revealed for first time since the war. John Rich was photojournalist representing NBC during the KW. Curiously enough, I was the subject of the classic KW photo, "Soldier's Watch" by AP PHOTOJOURNALIST, James E Martenhoff. It's the rifleman in silhoutte featured on the 'kwnm.org' home page. ... Richard Coate ... Dec. 1, 2008 11:31 AM EST

    Posted by Richard Coate on December 1,2008 | 08:32AM

    Very interesting article. The color photos make it all seems so current, and not fifty-odd years ago. My father fought in Korea from 1950-51 with the 2nd Division. He doesn't speak much about the war, but these photos brought back many memories (especially that one photo of a destroyed Seoul). The pictures of the children are so beautiful and sad.

    Posted by Pam Hansell on December 1,2008 | 09:35AM

    I was in Korea from August 1950 to the following summer when I was sent home on the first boatload to Seattle. I was in the 65th Infantry, a Regular Army regiment of Puerto Ricans with 50% continental officers. We had an African American artillery battalion and an African-American tank company to make us a regimental combat team. We had extra PRs because there were no PRs in the replacement pipeline. We used some of them to fill up the tank company and the artillery battalion. The PRs didn't like being assigned to a black outfit so we had a lot of tension and some shootings. I published an historical novel about fighting the Korean War in a racially-segregated army. Unfortunately the publishers sent my submittal manuscript to the printers instead of the finished version so it is 932 double-spaced pages without the bibliography and no pictures, just a few maps. I have about 100 still unsold. I will gladly send a copy to any interested persons at no charge. Wells B. Lange, Lt col US Army (ret) 1340 Forest Park Circle #1, Lafayette, CO 80026.

    Posted by Wells B. Lange on December 1,2008 | 05:07PM

    My husband was a POW in Korea for 14 months. It was "COLD". He was underfed (to say the least) and treated badly. He dosn't talk much about his experiences to anyone. It is just too hard. But, it was very interesting to read this article about the Forgotten War. Thank you.

    Posted by Judy on December 1,2008 | 10:40PM

    I have yet to see the photos taken by John Rich but am looking forward to viewing them. From 1953 to 1955 I was assigned to the Pacific Fleet Combat Camera Group. Fortunatly, for me, the shooting had stopped prior to my deployment to the Far East. However, many of my photographer buddies did serve with the Marines in Korea. I wonder if any of them are still around and would let me hear from them. Jim Berry, Iowa City, IA berry1932@msn.com

    Posted by Jim Berry on December 5,2008 | 06:19AM

    I was stationed in Bupyong, between Inchon and Seoul, between 1953 and 1954 and took "tokson" Kodachrome slides of this area and of the area past Chunchon and Mundung-ni, north to the DMZ. Korea was a very different place then, with rubble and war scars wherever you looked, both in the landscape and in the peoples' faces. To this day there is a warm place in my heart for the Korean people and sorrow for what they had to endure. Thank you for this wonderful article.

    Posted by Anthony J. DeBlasi on December 6,2008 | 03:00AM

    I want to thank Mr. Rich for bringing back memories for my father who is now almost 88. He did not fight in Korea, but his younger brother did. That is him in the picture of the Marines standing together, the one short one up front with his hands on his hips. His name was Eugene O'Neill, passed away over forty years ago from cancer. My father had not seen this picture before and unexpectantly came across this. It brought tears to his eyes, but what a joy to see his brother again. Thank you for this memory.

    Posted by Rick O'Neill on December 8,2008 | 06:52PM

    I enjoyed this article. By the way, I found a framed photo of the Forbidden City from a US Army Colonel who brought back the photo and framed it and gave it to someone as a gift. It has a plate on the back saying "Colonel ______1946" although there is a letter that he posted to his friend in 1991. Anyway, I don't know if the photo comes from 1946 or 1991. If it was 1946 and it is a color photo of China's Forbidden City, does anyone think it has any worth? Not sure if we actually had any military visiting China in that period. What do you think?

    Posted by Randy on December 9,2008 | 02:47PM

    IN REF TO THE POSTING IS THIS THE SAME OFFICER WELLS B LANGE THAT SERVED IN PAKISTAN IN 1963? TRAINING THE PAKISTAN ARMY TO JUMP FROM AIRCRAFT? Posted by Kent on 14 December 14,2008/12:20PM

    Posted by KENT B. AXTON on December 16,2008 | 12:22PM

    My father was a really good photographer and was in the infantry in the Korean war. I've just discovered what looks like hundreds of color slides of the Korean war. These look like something out of National Geographic!! Unbelievable!! I'm scanning them to my computer and then I'd like to find a good home for them. Does anyone think a museum might be interested?

    Posted by Laurence Perry on January 19,2009 | 06:57AM

    As a orphan/partcipant of the "Kitty-Car Airlift" would it be possible to contact Mr. John Rich . For excellent insight visit Gerge Drake's web-site "Children of Korea". My story is included (Susan Allen).

    Posted by Susan Allen on January 19,2009 | 10:51PM

    Dear John: Just came accross your story while fooling with the computer. It's been a long time since your days with H&S Company 25th Marines, 4th Marine Div. but I still remember it well. I had talked about you , often, with my cousin Helen Sirkin. It is so nice to know that you are still making headlines and that I;m still around to say "I knew him way back in WWII." Thank you for keeping history alive, Dan (corp Dan Winsor USMCR)

    Posted by Daniel L Winsor Jr on January 22,2009 | 01:50PM

    I am a Korean-American, but have only recently kindled interest in the history and culture of Korea. I certainly hope Mr. Rich's photos will be published. It seems to be an extremely important record of Korea's most volatile era.

    Posted by David Parslow on January 29,2009 | 11:32AM

    I just came across this article today while in local laundramat in Bennington, Vt. While with the 11th Marines in June '51 to Feb '52, I took dozens of B&W rolls with my little 127 Kodak Brownie when I had the chance. I treasure them to this day (still have most of the negs!), but they pale in contrast to the bright color photos in this article. Where can they be viewed, if possible?

    Posted by Victor Rolando on March 5,2009 | 06:01PM

    I have an adopted Korean daughter that I would love to show this exhibit. If it goes anywhere else in the future please let me know. There are many of these orphans.

    Posted by Gerrie Gilbert on March 19,2009 | 06:40PM

    Wow!! I too have dozens, if not hundreds of Korean slides, early '53 thru June '54. I coppied them to disc, sent thumbnails to the Korean Embassy to ask if they would like them as a donation to their historical society. Got no response!

    Have a son & his family in ME, get up there a lot, would like more contact.

    hrm

    Posted by Harry McKinley on June 8,2009 | 01:23PM

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