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.
Choi Sang-mok - South Korea's acting President for the WSJ
On Tuesday, I had the unique opportunity to photograph Acting President Choi Sang-mok for The Wall Street Journal. Assuming office on December 27, 2024, following the impeachments of President Yoon Suk-yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Choi faces the formidable task of steering South Korea through a period of significant political upheaval.
One of the pressing challenges confronting Acting President Choi is managing the nation's foreign relations amid escalating global trade tensions. Despite President Trump's escalating tariffs on various countries, Choi is striving to maintain strong ties with the U.S. With South Korea running a significant trade surplus with the U.S., concerns arise that Trump may target it next with tariffs. Choi seeks to negotiate directly with Trump but faces challenges due to his temporary status. As Trump accuses South Korea of having unfair trade practices, Choi aims to assure the U.S. of the surplus's temporary nature and offer collaboration in shipbuilding. South Korea's significant investments in the U.S. reflect its commitment to strengthening economic ties, but the uncertainty of Choi's tenure and impending decisions from South Korea's Constitutional Court add to the urgency of stabilizing the U.S.-South Korea relationship.
Domestically, Choi's administration is on high alert as the Constitutional Court prepares to deliver its verdict on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol. The court's decision, expected in the coming days, could either reinstate Yoon or permanently remove him from office, potentially triggering further political polarization and public unrest. In anticipation, the government has vowed strict measures against any illegal protests to maintain public order.
Navigating these complex issues, Acting President Choi Sang-mok remains committed to upholding South Korea's democratic processes and ensuring stability during this transitional period.
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
Lee Jae-Myung for the Wall Street Journal
A few days after the martial law declaration in South Korea, I was assigned by the Wall Street Journal to take the portrait of Lee Jae-Myung, the leader of the Democratic Party and main opponent to the conservative party. Not only has he is led the movement to impeach President Yoon Seok-Yeol, but he is the most likely candidate to take over the presidency in the next elections. We came to the National Assembly which still had signs of the recent attempted coup with broken doors and windows. I only had a few minutes for that portrait in the main debate room of the democratic party which had a giant poster calling for the impeachment.
Tim Franco is available for portraits and editorial assignments all over Asia
North Korean Military Defectors for the WSJ
When North Korea decided to send its troops to Ukraine to help the Russian Army, the Wall Street Journal interviewed two ex-military defectors about this strategy. I was assigned to portray them. The full story written by Dasl Yoon is available here. Below are two of my portraits.
Tim Franco is a portrait photographer & commercial photographer based between South Korea, China & France.
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.
Blackpink Jennie and Jeon Yeobin for Chanel
A few portraits shot for Chanel in Seoul South Korea for the release of their new Coco Crush collection. I had the chance to portray Kpop superstar and Blackpink member Jennie as well as South Korean actress 전여빈 [ Jeon Yeobin ] in a super environment.
Jennie from Kpop band Blackpink for Chanel
Actress 전여빈 [ Jeon Yeobin ] for Chanel
Tim Franco is a photographer based in Seoul South Korea and operates in great asia on commercial photographic assignment.
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
Porsche Korea | Editorial
A small assignment for the official Porsche Magazine in Seoul
Tim Franco is an Asia based photographer available for commercial and editorial photography assignment in the entire region. Please fee to get in touch!
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
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.
Amore Pacific | Seoul Photographer
Seoul photographer documenting the Amore Pacific Building in South Korea.
Last july, I was assigned by Monocle magazine to document the work life of Amore Pacific new headquarter in Seoul. For those who are not familiar with it, Amore Pacific is a South Korea conglomerate focusing on cosmetics and beauty, its hugely popular on the Asian market and its making its debut in the west. I got the chance to hang out and photograph their amazing building design by David Chipperfield. I have also photographed their CEO Suh Kyon-bae and followed some staff during their daily schedule. Here are some of the photos.
Tim Franco is a Seoul Photographer available for commercial and editorial assignment in South Korea.
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.
Seo Ji-hyun for Time Magazine
Tim Magazine assigned me to portray Seo Ji-hyun in South Korea. Miss Seo is a prosecutor who was the first woman to speak out about the #MeToo movement in South Korea. Her courage inspired thousands of women in the country. It was a last minute assignment and we had very little to work with but I am pretty happy with the final photo!
Tim Franco is available for editorial portrait assignments in Asia.
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
Cahuita - Costa Rica | Travel Photography
Travel Photography from Limon and Cahuita in Costa Rica
In late august, I had the chance to travel on a commercial assignment in Costa Rica to document the fruit shipping industry. While I have spent a big part of my time on banana plantation and shipping ports, I also had a few moments to relax. I have explored the region of Limon and especially some small beaches in the Cahuita District , down south , near the Panama border. There i met mainly families from Caribbean ascent who were relaxing and enjoying the warm waters. Here a few photos from those moments
Tim Franco is an editorial and commercial photographer based in Asia and available for assignment worldwide.
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