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!
Korean Bear Farms
In 1981, South Korea started importing bears to farm them for their bile. The liquid located in their gallbladder is very popular in traditional Asian medicine and has been used for multiple purposes.
In 1985, South Korea banned importation but the farms continued their breeding to provide the growing demand. In 2014, a deal was reached with the government to stop the exploitation of the bears.
There are about 24 bear farms still existing in South Korea with about 360 bears kept in small and old cages. Some of them are still trying to evade the laws. Since 2018, Tae Gyu Choi founded an organization to help the bears and eventually move them to a Sanctuary where they can be treated better.
If you are interested to publish that story get in touch at timfranco@gmail.com
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!
New York Times Publication - Post Olympics
Last weekend, I traveled to the Pyeongchang area in South Korea to shoot a report for a story looking at the impact of the 2018 Olympics. For this story, we looked at facilities but also local businesses. The full article can be found here. More unpublished photos below
I am available for editorial assignment in South Korea.
Sphere magazine cover story
My series Illicit Ink was published as a cover story for Sphere magazine about Tattoos. All those portraits were shot on paper negative using a 8X10 field camera.
Feature in Figaro Madame
Portraits of South Korean Women for Madame Figaro.
Last month, I followed fellow journalist and friend Sebastien Falletti for a story about status of Women in South Korea. I portrayed a KPOP singer ( Kim Yerim aka Lim Kim ), as well as brand owners and activist. The story was published in Figaro madame in December.
Tim Franco is Seoul based photographer available for editorial assignment in South Korea and Asia.
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.
Unperson exhibition in Cortona
This summer and despite the pandemic, I was lucky enough to travel to Italy for the opening of my Unperson exhibition in Cortona. The organizers, including Arianna Rinaldo, made amazing work at displaying my work in an old villa in the center of town. All the other exhibitions were also great and will be on until the end of September. If you are traveling in the region, go and check it out!
The book unperson is available here . Please contact me at timfranco@gmail.com for any information.
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.
Exhibition in Pyeongchang for the PIPFF
The short film “ Reclaiming the negative” documenting my project Unperson is part of the official selection of the 2021 Pyeonchang Peace film Festival. The photos from my book are also exhibited as part of the festival and the team did a great job et curating the project. Here are some images from the exhibition.
More about this project:
In George Orwell’s 1984, an unperson is someone who has been vaporized, whose record has been erased. Similarly, the North Korean defectors that Tim Franco chose to portray have decided to disappear, fleeing sometimes for ideological reasons and often out of despair. The road to South Korea is dangerous and can take years, across the many different borders with Mongolia, Laos, Thailand and China. The travels of the ones that do are filled with the fear of being arrested and sent back to labor camps. Having arrived in South Korea, they often struggle to find a new identity; Lost between their North Korean past and South Korean future.
To reflect this incredible transition, Tim Franco used an analog material that is not supposed to exist: the negative of a polaroid reveals through a series of chemical purifications, resulting often in something uncertain, dirty and imperfect. Each portrait goes side by side with the story of how and why the subjects came to this radical decision. In order to retrace their trails, Franco travelled to the crossing points, aiming to capture the diversity of landscape that is the background of North Korean defection.
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
Dior Retail | South Korea Photographer
For the past year, Dior has been working in partnership with me to photograph their new store in South Korea. I have been shooting architecture, interior and retail photography professionally for the past 10 years and I was glad to work with one of the best name in the luxury industry. Here are some of the photos.
Tim Franco is a Seoul based architecture photographer who specialises in high end luxury retail photography. He is available in South Korea and greater Asia ( China / Japan / Taiwan & Hong Kong ) for retail and architecture assignments.
Floods in Seoul | Heavy Rain in South Korea
The rain has been insane for the past month in South Korea. While there is serious damage and casualties in the South, the capital has only seen his main river, the Han river, raised by more than 8 meters and the different parks and roads on its banks have been completely flooded. I went down and documented a few of those strange new landscapes formed by this downpour.
Tim Franco is available for editorial and commercial photography assignment in Seoul and 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
Gangwon | South Korea Photographer
A couple weeks back, I felt stuck in the city. I usually travel all over Asia every month for commercial and personal shoots and since the beginning of the pandemic I am stuck at home in Seoul. I packed my large format camera in my car and drove the South Korean east coast. I traveled there a few times in the past on assignment and personal trips and slowly felt in love with the vintage look of the coastal cities with their motels and beaches. I started to document those without any particular project in my mind. On the first trip I shot only one evening and 3 frames - here they are:
Tim Franco is a photographer currently based in South Korea and available for assignment all over the country. Please get in touch : timfranco@gmail.com
Covid 19 - Dispatch from Seoul | Schools
Schools were the first to close as the pandemic hit the world. In South Korea, as the curve has flattened, some grades came back to school but in limited numbers with partitioned tables. For the past month, students all over the countries met together online with their teachers using different technologies from zoom to google classroom. Last week, I visited the Dongbu elementary school in Northern Seoul and documented their new process. Hwang Myeong Sin, a 4th-grade teacher welcomed me in her class and showed me the amazing content of google class that she has put together with other colleagues to teach her students online. Here are some of the photos.
Hwang Myeong Sin is ready to welcome her students once the governments will allow it.
Google classroom with students
Special classes are organized to welcome the students from homes who cannot take care of their children during work hours. Here children are being taught coding.
Robert Thomas Shurmur teaching an english lesson to his students online.
An active class with an empty classroom
All photos by Tim Franco, get in touch at timfranco@gmail.com if you are interested to publish.
Covid 19 - Dispatch from Seoul | The Itaewon Cluster
A new cluster of cases started in the busiest entertainment district of the South Korean capital. Find out what Itaewon looks like after being shut down.
When South Korea managed to flatten the curve, the government decided to ease restrictions and recommendations. Strict social distancing got more loose and most of bars and clubs reopened their doors. All of those actions came in just as the country was getting ready for the biggest holiday break of the spring. This was a big test for South Korea and it did not go well. On the 1st of may week end, an infected person came to the busiest nightlife district in Seoul and went clubbing - he was infected. A couple weeks down the road, cases linked to that first patient rose above 130 and authorities are still tracking 7000 people who have possibly been on the routes of those positive patients. The Itaewon district has been shut down and what was once the busiest nightlife attraction of the South Korean capitals now resemble a ghost town. Furthermore, most of the places visited by patient 0 were clubs linked to the LGBTQ community - one that is already struggling in a very conservative society and that is already facing the backlash of this new cluster of cases.
The busiest nightlife district of Seoul now resemble a ghost-town.
The epicenter of this new cluster is located around the the clubs catering to the LGBTQ community.
The name of Queen club hidden behind A4 paper because of the fear of repercussion
Trunk club was another establishment visited by patient 0.
King Club was another place visited by patient 0 according to the routes shared by local authorities
The entire Itaewon district is now empty and local business have been forced to shut down
A lot of local business have been enjoying crowds for the past couple of weeks and have been now ordered to shut down.
All images by Tim Franco - get in touch if you are interested at timfranco@gmail.com
Covid 19 - Dispatch from Seoul | Exams
Exams during a global pandemic in South Korea
At a time of a global pandemic, South Korea is taking all kind of mesures to avoid the spread of the disease despite continuing to run businesses - and that includes exams. For this particular process, people are lining up before with social distancing before being tested for body temperature. Then they are allowed to enter an outdoor field with strong social distance between each desks . On the 25th of April, it was time for the General Insurance Association of Korea at Seokyeong University and I was there to document it.
Please get in touch at timfranco@gmail.com if you are interested for publiction
Covid 19 - Dispatch from Seoul | masks
In touristic spots and large public spaces, everybody is wearing masks.
0 new domestic cases in South Korea for the past 2 days - we are slowly getting there! As the global pandemic continues worldwide, I will continue documenting the situation from here. Touristic sites are mostly empty most of the international flights have come to a stop but people have continued to wear masks, even by themselves in empty spaces as a courtesy in case of a sudden encounter. Those new landscapes give an eerie feeling of what is to come in the rest of the world
The royal guard performers at the Gyeongbokgung palace are wearing masks - but theirs are special are they are embroidered with a mystical creature from the Korean folklore that are suppose to protect people from plagues.
The Gyeongbokgung palace, one of the most touristic site in Seoul is mostly empty.
A royal guard performers at the Gyeongbokgung palace are wearing a mask.
Even in large empty spaces such as the DDP, people are wearing masks.
all images by Tim Franco. Get in touch at timfranco@gmail.com if interested
Covid 19 - Dispatch from Seoul | Portraits 1
This post is dedicated to those people in the serving industry who continue to work and interact with a large number of people every day in Seoul South Korea.
8 new cases as per yesterday feels like a small victory in South Korea. The curve is flat, people are working, student are starting to use online schooling and life goes on! On the front line, in the serve industry, people wear masks everywhere, in coffee shops, convenient stores, markets etc. This post is dedicated to those people in the serving industry who continue to work and interact with a large number of people every day!
Cho Ju Ok is welcoming customer in her coffee shop in downtown Seoul.
Lim Yung Ok, 7/11 owner is using gloves for every customer and washing his hands with sanitizer between every sale.
Kim Jina is preparing coffee in her shop in Jamsil downtown Seoul.
Kang Hye Ryeong has placed protecting glass to implement safety in her pharmacy
Park Gwan Woo works with a mask at the fish market in downtown Seoul
A large selection of photos on the Covid 19 are available upon request - all photos by Tim Franco - get in touch at timfranco@gmail.com