In his studio located in central Seoul, Tim Franco creates portraits of North Korean defectors using a large-format Polaroid camera — a process that allows time for genuine encounters and exchange, during which he collects their stories. Contrary to standard practice, he keeps the peeled negative and treats it chemically to reveal it once again. The final result is bordered in green, sometimes damaged or marked — just like the journeys of those who risked everything to flee. The act of reclaiming the negative resonates with the experience of these individuals who are taking back their freedom and their narrative, and who no longer officially exist in the eyes of the North Korean regime. For the photographer, this is a way of moving beyond purely documentary photography. The photographic gesture is highlighted through technical and aesthetic experimentation. Each portrait reflects a unique journey and a distinct desire to escape — an opportunity to assign faces and names to a little-known phenomenon of migration.
In an effort to better understand what these men and women fled from, Tim Franco spent about ten days in North Korea, accompanied by a journalist. He sought to distance himself from the types of images most often brought back from the country: empty streets, regimented crowds at state celebrations, visuals that veer toward the uncanny or the satirical. Struck by the beauty of the landscapes and cities of North Korea, his photographs stand out through their remarkable harmony of color and highly graphic lines. The vivid hues of hand-painted propaganda signs contrast with the softer tones of the spaces he captures. Some urban landscapes — pristine and seemingly suspended in time — feel disorienting to the Western gaze. A subtle anxiety is palpable: the fear of stepping out of line, of offending the ever-present regime manifested in monumental sculptures and propaganda posters. His images are carefully composed, though never staged.
The documentary dimension of Tim Franco’s photographs is intertwined with a minimalist aesthetic that serves the subjects he portrays. Portraiture is often central to his work. Those in this series are striking for their sensitivity and depth.
