Portrait of a North Korean Defector for Liberation
A portrait assignment by french newspaper Liberation of a North Korean defector: Kim Il-hyuk. He defected in 2023 and tells the story of North Korea during Covid 19 - a rare view inside the closed up state, full story here in French.
Tim Franco is available for portrait assignment in South Korea and the rest of Asia.
Keum Suk Gendry-Kim for Le Monde
A couple weeks ago, I was assigned to take a portrait of Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, the South Korean coming book artist who explores the themes of war, trauma, North Korea etc… I met her at her home on the Ganghwa island where I photographed her in her studio house. Here are some the photos.
I am a portrait and commercial photographer based out of Seoul - South Korea
Moka Lee Portraits for Artsy
Last August I met Moka Lee, a young South Korean painter was who was profile by Artsy . We shot a few portraits in her studio in downtown Seoul, South Korea. Here are some of those photos.
Tim Franco is available for editorial & commercial portrait assignments in Korea, China, Japan and all over the Asia Pacific region.
Nate Mann - Actor Portrait
Portrait session with the American Actor Nate Mann.
Nate Mann is an American actor who played in Licorice Pizza by Paul Thomas Anderson and who is currently in production of a couple of TV series coming up on Apple TV and Peacock. He came to me earlier this year asking me to produce a few portraits for him. He flew to Seoul while on break during a shoot in Australia and we had a fun and creative portrait session. Here a re few of them
Tim Franco is available for professional portrait photography all around the Asia Region
Lee Sung-kyung for Chanel
Lee Sung-kyung is a South Korean model, actress, singer and Chanel Beauty Ambassador. I had the chance to work with her on numerous occasion. Those photos were taken a couple years back. I think it was actually the first time I photographed her.
Tim Franco is a portrait and documentary photographer covering fashion and luxury commercial celebrity photoshoots in South Korea and great Asia. Please get in touch if his services are needed!
Testing the Hasselblad X1d2
I finally invested in a medium format digital camera. I have been using the Fuji GFX for some campaign shoot but my choice finally went towards the Hasselblad X1d2 as I found the quality of the colors amazing and the size was much smaller. I went on a small testing tour with it as I soon as I received it with neighbour and model Jin. Please see some of the photos here.
Tim Franco is available for commercial portrait & photography work in Seoul & South Korea.
Creative Portraits in Seoul
I finally took the time to book a studio session here in Seoul to go over some new lighting techniques that I wanted to try for portraits. I have always wanted to extend my commercial portfolio but I end up trying very creative technique that tends to be too artsy for any kind of commercial photoshoot. Two young South Korean actresses were kind enough to spend the day in front of my camera and here are some of the result!
Tim Franco is a Seoul - South Korea based portrait photographer who takes assignment all over east Asia ( China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and others). He specializes in creative portrait commercial photography.
South Korean Drag scene Portraits
Last year, during the pandemic, I stared to work on a new series about the drag scene in South Korea. In a country where conservatism still prevails, I wanted to do a series about a community that goes against this trend. I started to shoot 4x5 portraits of different person from the community but unfortunatly, because of the pandemic, I am left with an un-finished series. As soon as we are allowed back in bars and clubs, I will continue shooting the performances to make it complete. In the meanwhile, please check out a few of those portraits here:
Tim Franco is a portrait photographer based in Seoul, South Korea
Chanel | Korea, Japan & China Photographer
Chanel has been working with me for the last 2 years in the Asia region for their digital content. Most of the shoot are with local and international celebrities who are wearing or using Chanel products. I had the chance to work in 3 different countries , Japan, South Korea and China to cover those assignments. Its always a pleasure to work with such a great name in the industry, a luxury and fashion brands that still bring sparkles in people’s yes. Here are some of those photos:
Pharrell Williams performing in Tokyo
Nana Komatsu
Lee Dong-wook
shin min ah
Kristen Stewart
Soo Joo Park
Chanel Flagship Store in Seoul South Korea
Illicit Ink at KLPA | Korea Photographer
My series Illicit Ink will be exhibited as part of the Kuala Lumpur Portrait Awards and one of the photograph from the series was selected for the poster of the exhibition. Illicit ink is a series of intimate portraits of the underground tattooist community in South Korea shot on paper negatives.
The photos will be exhibited as part of a group exhibition from the 14th of september to the 27th at the ILHAM gallery in Kuala Lumpur.
Seoul Watch Fashion | South Korea Photographer
On my latest assignment for the New York Times, I have been asked to photographs Seoul watch owners for a story. It was a great opportunity to shoot street portraits with natural lighting the way I was doing it long time ago when I started shooting bands in Shanhgai. I really enjoyed the locations in the backstreet of the Gangnam district. You can see the full stories and photos here : https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/17/fashion/watches-seoul-street-style.html
Tim Franco is a Seoul, South Korea based photographer who travels for assignment all around the Asia region. He works on commercial and editorial assignments.
North Korean portraits | Unperson
This is the first portrait of my new series about North Korean defectors.
When Kim Pil-joo was a young boy, his mom was often traveling to China illegally to purchase and sell products. Every time she got back, a smell of candy and sweets was invading their home. He imagined China as a big candy factory. At 12, during a rough year of famine in the country, he experienced a public execution. The man had stolen a copper safety line from a mine and tried to sell it. It took him two attempts to manage to escape North Korea. His mom was already in China and it was a question of survival. When he finally arrived in South Korea, he was first shocked by how welcomed he was by the local government. All his life he was told how evil the South Korean were. Even thou he now lives and studies in the south, he finds it difficult to integrate fully the social and hope for a unique identity, where north and south are just one.
To reflect this incredible transition, I chose to portray those defectors on an analog material that is not supposed to exist. Just as their situation, the negative of a Polaroid is not supposed to be usable. It is only obtained through a series of chemical purification’s of the back paper of the original image. The result is often uncertain, dirty and imperfect. This series of portraits is the first chapter of a project reflecting on North Korea and the notions of borders and identity.
The complete series is available for publication upon request @ timfranco@gmail.com
Portraits for Chanel | Shanghai
As part of the launch of their new watch, Chanel hold a special event in Shanghai China. I was assigned to set up a booth to photograph celebrities and guests. The images had to look like an advertising and were processed on site through a mirror app. Here are some of my favorite portrait for the shoot as well as a small display of the final images delivered.
Tim Franco is a commercial and editorial photographer based in greater asia. He works on commercial assignment in China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan. Please get in touch at tim@propagandastudio.asia
kathmandu Jazz Scene - Nepal Portraits
A few month ago, I was assigned by Silk Road magazine to travel to Nepal to shoot a story on the small growing local Jazz Scene in Kathmandu. During a few days in the capital, I have met many musicians and shot their portraits. Here are some of them
Tim Franco is an Asia based photographer living between Seoul & Shanghai and available for assignment in China, South Korea, Japan and all over asia. Contact him at tim@propagandastudio.asia
Fisherman in the Lofoten
A couple month back as I was visiting the Lofoten islands , i had to pleasure to meet Roger, a very nice fisherman eager to share his knowledge and stories, here are a few photos from a beautiful morning spent discussing the preparation for the Cod Fishing Season near Roger's boat. I am hopping our path will cross again !
Tim Franco is available for travel and documentary assignments please contact him at timfranco@gmail.com
Portrait Session | Seoul Photograher
I have been recently contacted by an aspiring model to do some photos of her in Seoul. I always wanted to take some portrait inside the great Dongdaemun Design Plazza by Zaha Hadid. I took this opportunity to try out the location. Here are some of those portraits
Tim Franco is a Seoul, South Korea based photographer available for portrait & commercial assignment . Contact timfranco@gmail.com + 821095228801
Future Sound of China | Editorial Photography
Last month I have traveled around China to portray the Future Sound of China, a story about upcoming and underground musician around the middle kingdom. All the portraits were shot on my old and favorite hasselblad on film. Here are some of the portraits and the tear sheets of the article
Tim Franco is a photographer based in Asia out of Seoul and travels monthly to China and East asia for editorial and commercial photography assignment
Seoul travel story | Travel Photography for L'Express
I moved earlier this year to my new apartment on the beautiful hill of Namsam in the center of the capital city of South Korea. A few weeks ago I was assigned by the french magazine l'Express for a travel story here in Seoul. Here are a few tear sheets from that story.
Tim Franco is Seoul / Shangai / Beijing based photographer available for editorial and commercial photography assignment all over Asia.
Fashion Photography | STELLA DESIGN
I have recently worked on a small fashion shoot for a local Shanghai Designer. The set up was quite simple and I have decided to shoot using a medium format film camera. Here are some of the result of the work produced for the 3 outfits.
Tim Franco is aFashion & Lifestyle photographer available for assignment in Seoul ( South Korea ) & Shanghai ( China ). contact him at timfranco@gmail.com
UBER Commercial Photography Campaign
Last year, we were contacted through Propaganda Studio to produce images for the new China photography campaign for UBER. Here some of the images I shot
Tim Franco is a Seoul ( South Korea ) and Shanghai ( China ) based photographer who is available for commercial assignment through his agency Propaganda Studio based in Hong Kong