Twelve photographers
MARTINE FRANCK
Born in Antwerp, Belgium. Lives and works in Paris.
Martine Franck grew up in the United States and in England. She studied art history at the University of Madrid and at the École du Louvre in Paris. During her student days in Paris, she met Ariane Mnouchkine and, together, they made their first trip to the Far East, a key journey that made Martine Franck realize that she wanted to become a photographer.
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On
her return to France, she worked as an assistant to the photographers
Eliot Elisofon and Gjon Mili, at Time-Life in Paris. They encouraged
her to do her first reportages. Her friendship with Ariane Mnouchkine
also led her to follow the Théâtre du Soleil from its beginnings in
1964 until now.
© Martine Franck / Magnum Photos
Martine Franck was interested in the unique working methods of this actors’ cooperative; in her color photographs, the spectator is seeped in the unreal atmosphere of their rehearsals.
In 1970 she joined the VU photo agency, and two years later, she contributed to the founding of the Viva agency. At the time, Martine Franck was doing many portraits of artists and writers. These reflect a confidence and mutual respect that developed naturally between photographer and subject. Notably, she did portraits of women in the “Les Contemporaines” section of Vogue magazine; Franck was able to complete this project thanks to the parallel but more far-reaching work she did for the French Ministry of Women’s Rights in 1983.
That same year, Martine Franck became a full member of Magnum Photos. Since 1985, she has collaborated with the International Federation of Little Brothers, which cares for the elderly and outcasts of society. A collection of portraits of centenarians, Le Temps de Vieillir is the culmination of her reflections on the status and the marginalization of the elderly.
In 1993 Martine Franck went to the island of Tory for the first time, off the northwest coast of Ireland. There, she studied the daily life of a traditional Gaelic community surviving apart from the continent. In 1998 she presented a portrait of this unique microcosm and its inhabitants in the book Tory, Ile aux Confins de l’Europe.
She then went to Asia to meet Buddhist Tibetan children in India and Nepal. With the help of Marilyn Silverstone, former member of Magnum Photos who has become a Buddhist nun, Martine Franck was able to investigate the education of the Tulkus, the young lamas who are thought to be the reincarnations of ancient great spiritual masters; the book about them Tibetan Tulkus was published in the year 2000. From her countless travels, Franck has always brought back images that reveal a unique sense of empathy, sincerity, and humanity.
In 2003 and 2004, Martine Franck followed the avant-garde stage director Robert Wilson at the Comédie Française and documented his innovative rendition of La Fontaine’s Fables. Under the same title, this series of photographs was published by Actes Sud in 2004.
Exhibitions (selection):
1981–1982 Le Temps de Vieillir, Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône, France; Malmö Museum, Sweden.
1982 Galerie Municipale du Château d’Eau, Toulouse, France.
1983 Des Femmes et la Création, Maison de la Culture du Havre, France.
1985 Vingt Contemporains vus par Martine Franck, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France.
1989 De Temps en Temps, Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, France.
1991 Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan.
1992 Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
1998–2000 Tory Island, The Gallery of Photography, Dublin, Ireland; Old Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland; Galerie Fait et Cause, Paris, France.
2000 Tibetan Tulkus, Moscow House of Photography, Russia; Rossi Gallery, London, UK.
1998–2000 D’un jour, l’autre, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France; Magazzini del Sale, Venice, Italy; Mairie de Saint-Ouen l’Aumône, France; Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, USA.
2002–2003 Martine Franck Photographe, Musée de la Vie Romantique, Paris, France; Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Nîmes, France.
2004–2005 Fables, The French Institute in Berlin, Germany; Capitole, Rencontres d’Arles, France.
Publications (selection):
Martine Franck. Contre-jour, Paris, 1976.
Les Luberons. Chêne, Paris, 1978.
Le Temps de Vieillir. Denoël-Filipacchi, Paris, 1980.
“Le Théâtre du Soleil” in Double page (no. 21, 32, 49), 1982–1987.
De Temps en Temps. Les Petits Frères des Pauvres, Paris, 1988.
Tory, Ile aux Confins de l’Europe. Benteli, Bern, 1998.
D’un jour, l’autre. Le Seuil, Paris, 1998.
Tibetan Tulkus, images of continuity. Rossi & Rossi, London,2000.
Martine Franck Photographe. Adam Biro, Paris, 2002.
Fables. Actes Sud, Paris, 2004. v>
Martine Franck grew up in the United States and in England. She studied art history at the University of Madrid and at the École du Louvre in Paris. During her student days in Paris, she met Ariane Mnouchkine and, together, they made their first trip to the Far East, a key journey that made Martine Franck realize that she wanted to become a photographer.
On
her return to France, she worked as an assistant to the photographers
Eliot Elisofon and Gjon Mili, at Time-Life in Paris. They encouraged
her to do her first reportages. Her friendship with Ariane Mnouchkine
also led her to follow the Théâtre du Soleil from its beginnings in
1964 until now. © Martine Franck / Magnum Photos
Martine Franck was interested in the unique working methods of this actors’ cooperative; in her color photographs, the spectator is seeped in the unreal atmosphere of their rehearsals.
In 1970 she joined the VU photo agency, and two years later, she contributed to the founding of the Viva agency. At the time, Martine Franck was doing many portraits of artists and writers. These reflect a confidence and mutual respect that developed naturally between photographer and subject. Notably, she did portraits of women in the “Les Contemporaines” section of Vogue magazine; Franck was able to complete this project thanks to the parallel but more far-reaching work she did for the French Ministry of Women’s Rights in 1983.
That same year, Martine Franck became a full member of Magnum Photos. Since 1985, she has collaborated with the International Federation of Little Brothers, which cares for the elderly and outcasts of society. A collection of portraits of centenarians, Le Temps de Vieillir is the culmination of her reflections on the status and the marginalization of the elderly.
In 1993 Martine Franck went to the island of Tory for the first time, off the northwest coast of Ireland. There, she studied the daily life of a traditional Gaelic community surviving apart from the continent. In 1998 she presented a portrait of this unique microcosm and its inhabitants in the book Tory, Ile aux Confins de l’Europe.
She then went to Asia to meet Buddhist Tibetan children in India and Nepal. With the help of Marilyn Silverstone, former member of Magnum Photos who has become a Buddhist nun, Martine Franck was able to investigate the education of the Tulkus, the young lamas who are thought to be the reincarnations of ancient great spiritual masters; the book about them Tibetan Tulkus was published in the year 2000. From her countless travels, Franck has always brought back images that reveal a unique sense of empathy, sincerity, and humanity.
In 2003 and 2004, Martine Franck followed the avant-garde stage director Robert Wilson at the Comédie Française and documented his innovative rendition of La Fontaine’s Fables. Under the same title, this series of photographs was published by Actes Sud in 2004.
Exhibitions (selection):
1981–1982 Le Temps de Vieillir, Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône, France; Malmö Museum, Sweden.
1982 Galerie Municipale du Château d’Eau, Toulouse, France.
1983 Des Femmes et la Création, Maison de la Culture du Havre, France.
1985 Vingt Contemporains vus par Martine Franck, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France.
1989 De Temps en Temps, Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, France.
1991 Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan.
1992 Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
1998–2000 Tory Island, The Gallery of Photography, Dublin, Ireland; Old Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland; Galerie Fait et Cause, Paris, France.
2000 Tibetan Tulkus, Moscow House of Photography, Russia; Rossi Gallery, London, UK.
1998–2000 D’un jour, l’autre, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France; Magazzini del Sale, Venice, Italy; Mairie de Saint-Ouen l’Aumône, France; Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, USA.
2002–2003 Martine Franck Photographe, Musée de la Vie Romantique, Paris, France; Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Nîmes, France.
2004–2005 Fables, The French Institute in Berlin, Germany; Capitole, Rencontres d’Arles, France.
Publications (selection):
Martine Franck. Contre-jour, Paris, 1976.
Les Luberons. Chêne, Paris, 1978.
Le Temps de Vieillir. Denoël-Filipacchi, Paris, 1980.
“Le Théâtre du Soleil” in Double page (no. 21, 32, 49), 1982–1987.
De Temps en Temps. Les Petits Frères des Pauvres, Paris, 1988.
Tory, Ile aux Confins de l’Europe. Benteli, Bern, 1998.
D’un jour, l’autre. Le Seuil, Paris, 1998.
Tibetan Tulkus, images of continuity. Rossi & Rossi, London,2000.
Martine Franck Photographe. Adam Biro, Paris, 2002.
Fables. Actes Sud, Paris, 2004. v>