Tim Franco - Documenting the stories of North Korean defectors

In this episode, I’m talking with Tim Franco—a French-Polish photographer who is currently living in South Korea.

Tim does a wide range of work, including editorial and commercial, but it was his personal projects that first grabbed my attention, including his first book ‘Metamorpolis’, as well as his soon-to-be-released project ‘Unperson’, which documents the stories of North Korean defectors. 

I was immediately fascinated not only by the subject matter with this project, but also the creative approach that Tim took—combining portraits that were created using large format pack film with landscapes of various border crossings and stories from the defectors themselves. 

Tim’s willingness to experiment, as well as his dedication and patience, are very apparent as you browse through his work, and it was great to have a chance to learn more about his process and history with his craft. 

If you’re not familiar with his work, I definitely recommend checking it out at the links below, and if you’re a photobook collector, hop over to his website and pick up a copy of ‘Unperson’. It looks like it will be an amazing addition to any collection.

Enjoy!

————————-

Tim’s Website
Tim’s Instagram
Buy Tim’s book ‘Unperson’