Red Ink is a subversive look at North Korea, created during a four-day government-controlled tour with journalist Evan Osnos for The New Yorker. Forbidden from capturing anything that didn’t reflect the state’s idealized self-image, Pinckers used a harsh, intrusive ring-flash to photograph the “staged” reality of Pyongyang. This technique transforms the sanitized environments—factories, schools, and hospitals—into surreal, almost clinical stage sets, highlighting the pervasive theatricality of the regime. The book itself features a distinctive PVC dust-jacket and was recognized as the winner of the 2018 Leica Oskar Barnack Award.