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
Metamorpolis exhibition in Nantes
The Metamorpolis series is currently exhibited in Nantes at le Passage Saintes Croix until the 21st of november. It is the biggest and I have to say, nicest exhibition produce so far on this project and I was thrilled to be part of the opening event. Here is a few photos of the space .
Please don't hesitate to contact me directly if you have any question about the exhibition or the project or if you are interested to get the book please go to http://www.metamorpolis.com to purchase a copy !
Banana Industry in Costa Rica
Following my latest post, I wanted to share this time the beginning of my commercial assignment. I was following the fruit shipping industry in Costa Rica and the obvious first step was the Banana Picking in the plantations. I followed a group of men on their daily routine, from sunrise to sunset with their mule.
Tim Franco is an editorial & Commercial photographer based in Asia and available for assignments worldwide.
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.
Metamorpolis Exhibition in Paris
During the summer of 2017, a collection of photos from my Metamorpolis project are exhibited at the "Maison de la Chine" in downtown Paris. The venue has a Chinese Tea House which includes exhibitions year around. Here are few phone photos of the exhibition.
The exhibition will be displayed until the end of august. For inquiries please contact me directly : tim@propagandastudio.asia
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
Portraits of Modern Mongolia
Portraits of modern Mongolia as part of a story on Mongolian Democracy
A series of portraits done during my week spent documenting democracy in Mongolia. Most of the portraits were taken in and around Ulan Bator ( Ulaan Baatar ).
Nato Officer
Speaker of the house and front runner to presidency election
Open Space office owner in Downtown Ulan Bator
Foreign Minister of Mongolia
Mongol TV weather girl
Lkhagva Erdene, prominent journalist at Mongol TV
Nato officer of Mongolian Army
Mongol Tv Owner
All those portraits were shot as part of a story for Monocle Magazine on Mongolian Democracy, the full series can be seen here.
Tim Franco is a commercial and editorial documentary photographer based in Seoul and Shanghai and available all over asia for assignment.
Ulan Bator | A new Democracy in Mongolia
More photos from a story I have worked on a few month ago about the new democracy in Mongolia. During my time there, I had the chance to visit local herders and resident from the Capital city Ulan Bator as well as prominent politician & Journalists. Here is a few photos taken in the Mongolian Capital city
The smog arriving from the Ger city into the downtown area
The full story is available here
Tim Franco is a documentary and commercial photographer available for assignment all over asia.
herders in the Mongolian Steppe
Last month, I had the chance to travel back to Mongolia to work on a story about Democracy and the coming presidential election for Monocle Magazine. We have spent an intense week meeting all kinds of interesting characters from herders to the probable future president of the country. Here are few photos taken in the steppe.
Tim Franco is available for editorial and commercial assignment all over Asia, please contact him at timfranco@gmail.com and follow him on istagram @timfranco
Chongqing Feature in the Good Life Magazine
Earlier this year I traveled back to Chongqing to work on a story for The Good Life Magazine. It was a nice experience to look around the city and see how much has changed since I have last visited it. Here are a few of the images from that body of work as well as the tearsheets.
Tim Franco is available for editorial and commercial photography assignment in Asia. He is based between Seoul and Shanghai and often travels to the following destinations : Hong Kong, beijing, Tokyo, Bangkok & Singapore. Please contact him directly at timfranco@gmail.com
Arctic Surfers
It is 3.30 pm on the Lofoten islands. The sun has set almost an hour ago and the moon rising between two snow mountains reflects its bright light onto the icy beach of Flakstad.
Even though we are hundreds of kilometers North of the Arctic Circle , the most popular activity here is surfing . The Lofoten islands are famous worldwide for their scenic fishing villages surrounded by snow mountains, icy bays and northern lights. Although it is cod fishing that has traditionally played the dominant role in the islands’ history a local surfing scene has emerged in the little bay of Unstad, cut off from the rest of the island by mountains. Nowadays, what used to be the village school has become a surf camp welcoming adventurers and professional surfers from all around the world coming to defy the best waves of the Arctic.
I traveled to the Lofoten in the winter of 2017 to work on this series. Please contact me at timfranco@gmail.com or trough my agency directly at matt@instituteartist.com.
The story is available here in a complete set on The Institute Story page.
Fashion Designer Portraits
This month issue of the Silk Road magazines feature a story about up & coming fashion designer in China that I have shot . As I often work with this magazine, each portrait was done on my old time favorite Hasselblad Medium format Film camera. Here is a couple of the portrait as well as the tearsheets.
Tim Franco is available for editorial and commercial assignments including portraits, stories and architecture in China, Korea and Hong Kong please contact him at timfranco@gmail.com
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
Behind the Scene | Shanghai Fashion Shoot
Last week, I was producing a photoshoot for my agency Propaganda Studio in Shanghai with one of our photographer (Victor Marvillet ) . The client asked us to document the process and I snap a few photos & videos during the photo shoot. It ended up looking nice and completely different than the actual result of the commercial shoot. Here are some of the images.
Tim Franco is Seoul & Shanghai based photographer available for commercial assignment all over the Asia region - you can also see more of his commercial work on his agency website at Propaganda Studio. Contact him directly for photography assignment at tim@propagandastudio.asia
Northern Lights in Norway
As I was traveling in the Lofoten islands in Norway to work on a story about Arctic Surfers, I was often on the road , driving from one surfing spot to the other and back to the beautiful fishing village of Sorvagen. Every night, I could see the beautiful Northern Lights ( Aurora Borealis ) appearing on the sky above me. It was not part of my project but i could not resist the temptation of stopping the car and capturing those fascinating ray of green colours traveling through the beautiful star filled sky.
Tim Franco is an Asia based photographer available for commercial and editorial photography assignment in South Korea, China and South east Asia.
Exhibition at the Finnish Museum of Photography
Metamorpolis is exhibited this month as part of the PVF festival in Finland. I have the great pleasure to have 10 photos in the Museum of Photography of Helsinki along side many great artists and photographers. The cover photo of Metamorpolis has also been used as the main marketing material for the festival poster.
The exhibition is ongoing for the next three month ! Please don't hesitate to pay a visit if you are around ! More information here : http://www.valokuvataiteenmuseo.fi/en/nayttelyt/nyt/event/72/253---poliittisen-valokuvan-festivaali-2017-ruoka
Outdoor Exhibition in Paris | China Photographer
My work from Metamorpolis was selected by the jury of the Circulation(s) festival this year. It was a great honour , not only to be part of a great group of artist exhibiting at the incredible 104 SPACE in Paris but also to have a special exhibition of 28 photographs at an amazing outdoor location in downtown Paris - Gare de l'Est. The photos will be exhibited until the end of February.
All the photos from this series are available for prints and magazines through Institute. Please contact me directly for other details at timfranco@gmail.com .
Fashion Editorial for Grazia | Shanghai
Last month, I was assigned by Grazia to cover a Max Mara event in Shanghai. The fashion show happened in the old exhibition center that was completely transformed for the occasion ! Here a few of the photos as well as the press clippings
Tim Franco is an award winning photographer based in Asia and available for editorial assignment in Seoul, Shanghai , Beijing & Hong Kong.
Urbanism & Modern architecture in Baku - Azerbaijan
Baku has a really impressive range of architecture. From the traditional old city to the out of proportion Flame Towers, it is hard to understand where the city is going in terms of urbanisation. Here are a few photos from my "Crude Gentrification" project about some of the craziest and more modern part of the city's architecture.
The series is available for editorial usage with my agency , click the link here