About Tim Franco Seoul based photographer

SHANGHAI | SEOUL

Tim Franco is a French Polish photographer born in Paris in 1982. Formerly based in Shanghai for a decade, he documents the incredible urbanisation of China and its social impacts. This body of work was published as his first Monography Metamorpolis - the conclusion of five years of work about the rural migration in the fastest urbanising city in the world: Chongqing. It was during this time that Tim developed his style of working mostly on analog camera and trying to bring a minimalist aesthetic to documentary photography.

In 2016, Tim Franco moved to South Korea where he started working on a long term project about North Korean defectors. He has been collaborating - amongst others - with Time Magazine, Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, National Geographic, Le Monde, Geo and 6 Mois.

Shows:

+ BBA Gallery in Berlin - Prize Exhibition - UNperson 2022
+ Singapore Photography Festival - Unperson 2022
+ The Reference Gallery in Seoul - Duo Exhibition - Unperson 2022
+ Albert Khan Museum - Laureate Exhibition - Unperson 2022
+ Sete Train Station - Unperson 2022 / 2023
+ Cortona on the move Italy - Unperson 2021
+ Culturann Mcadam Ó Fiaich Belfast - Unperson 2021
+ PIPFF Pyeonchang South Korea - Unperson 2021
+ Format Festival Derby [online] - Unperson 2021
+ National Portrait Gallery London - Taylor Wessing Group Show 2020
+ Technische Sammlungen Dresden - Award Group Show Illicit Ink 2020
+ ILHAM Gallery Kuala Lumpur - Award Group Show Illicit Ink 2020
+ Goethe Institute Jakarta - Group Show Festival Unperson 2019
+ Maison de la Photographie de Lille - Group Show Metamorpolis 2019
+ Museum of National Archive of Paris - Group Show Metamorpolis 2019
+ Warsaw Photo Days - Award Group Show Unperson - 2018
+ Kuala Lumpur - Award Group Show Unperson - 2018
+ Chongqing Museum of Art - Group Show - 2018
+ Abbaye de l'Epau - Group Show Metamorpolis - 2018
+ Museum of Photography of Bievre - Permanent Collection Metamorpolis
+ Blank Gallery in Athens - Group Landscape Exhibition Arctic Surfers - 2017
+ Centre André Labarrère in Pau - Solo Show Crude Gentrification - 2017
+ Passage Sainte-Croix in Nantes - Solo Show Metamorpolis - 2017
+ Maison de la Chine in Paris - Solo Show Metamorpolis - 2017
+ Finish Museum of Photography in Helsinki - Groupe Show - Metamorpolis - 2017
+ Gare de L'Est in Paris - Hors les Murs Outdoor exhibition - Festival Circulation(s) - 2017
+ P46 Camogli - Solo Show Metamorpolis - 2016
+ CAPC Musee d'Art Contemporain de Bordeaux - Group Show - Constellation.s - 2016
+ Gallerie Gare Saint Sauveur - Groupe Show - Pour une poignee de degree - 2016
+ Gallerie Duo in Paris- Metamorpolis Show with Patrick Wack - TWICE #04 - 2016
+ Les Bains Revelateurs - Groupe Show - Pour une poignee de degree - 2015
+ Carte Blanche Gallery San Francisco | Urban Shift - 2011
+ Zurich Design Museum | Group Exhibition "High Rises" - 2011
+ YY Underground | Shanghai Soundbites Book Launch - 2008

Awards:

+ 2022 BBA Gallery Photography Prize, 3rd place - Unperson
+ 2022 Albert Kahn Museum Rencontre Photographique Laureate - Unperson
+ 2021 IPE Award from the Royal Photographic Society - Unperson
+ 2021 Hellerau Portrait 2nd Prize - Unperson
+ 2020 New Vision Award 2020 - Unperson
+ 2020 Taylor Wessing Prize Finalist - Unperson
+ 2020 Meitar Award Finalist - Unperson
+ 2020 Finalist | Lens Culture Portrait Award - Unperson
+ 2019 second prize | Independent Photographer - People for Illicit ink
+ 2019 Photographer of the Year | Dohdo for Illicit ink
+ 2019 First Place Winner Minimalist Portrait Awards for Illicit Ink
+ 2018 Second Prize of Kuala Lumpur Portrait awards series for Unperson
+ 2018 Finalist Single Shot Fotografia Etica for Unperson
+ 2018 Jury Selection Boutographies for Unperson
+ 2016 Official Selection Alres Book Awards for Metamorpolis
+ 2016 Lens Culture Portrait Award Finalist
+ 2016 Finalist AFD Best Photography Documentary 2015
+ 2015 Book Award Rendez Vous Images for Metarmorpolis
+ 2013 NX Pass Grand Prize
+ 2013 Flash Forward | Magenta Festival Award
+ 2012 Samsung NX Programm

Lectures:

+ Strelka Institute Moscow - Metamorpolis Rise of a Chinese City [ video in English & Russian here ] - 2018
+ Asia Society New York - Metamorpolis Book Launch - 2015