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About the Belgian Magnum photographer Martine FRANCK (1938-2012)
Martine FRANCK spent her childhood in England and the United States. She studied history at the University of Madrid from 1956 to 1957 and at the École du Louvre in Paris from 1958 to 1962. Her first experience as a photographer was in the Far East in 1963. In 1964 she worked as a photographic assistant in the laboratory of Life magazine in Paris. In 1965 she began to work freelance. In 1970 she joined the VU agency and in 1972 she founded the Viva agency. In 1980 she became an associate member of Magnum Photos and a full member in 1983. Since 1970 Martine FRANCK was married to the legendary photographer Henri CARTIER-BRESSON († 2004), one of the co-founders of Magnum Photos.
The photographic work of Martine FRANCK, mostly black and white works, is characterized by a subtly surreal character. In addition to portraits, she also took reportage and landscape photographs or sought, in the tradition of Henri CARTIER-BRESSON, the spontaneous snapshot with enigmatic humor. Martine FRANCK died in mid-August 2012 at the age of 74.
Photo books by as well as about the work of Martine FRANCK
- 'Les Luberons' (1978); 'Beautiful Age' (1980); 'Martine Franck' (1990); 'Tory Island. Island on the Edge of Europe' (1998); 'D'un jour, l'autre' (1998, Eng. 'From Day to Day'); 'Phaidon 55' (2007); 'Women / Femmes' (2010); 'Martine Franck' (2018);
more photo books with works by Martine FRANCK
- 'Zeitblende. Five Decades of MAGNUM Photography' (1989); 'Martine Franck' (1990); 'Magna Brava: Magnum's Women Photographers' (1999); 'Women See Women' (2022, together with works by Berenice ABBOTT, Lola ALVAREZ BRAVO, Rogi ANDRÉ, Diane ARBUS, Eve ARNOLD, Atelier Elvira, Ellen AUERBACH, Vanessa BEECROFT, Ruth BERNHARD, Aenne BIERMANN, Lilian BIRNBAUM, Margaret BOURKE-WHITE, Steffi BRANDL, Marianne BRESLAUER, Claude CAHUN, Julia Margaret CAMERON, Elisabetta CATALANO, Yvonne CHEVALIER, Imogen CUNNINGHAM, Louise DAHL-WOLFE, Minya DIEZ-DÜHRKOOP, Rineke DIJKSTRA, Zoe DOMINIC, Jayne FINCHER, Trude FLEISCHMANN, Martine FRANCK, Gisèle FREUND, Trude GEIRINGER, Jitka HANZLOVÁ, Clementina Lady HAWARDEN, Florebce HENRI, Hannah HÖCH, Dora HOROVITZ, Vera ISLER, Dominique ISSERMANN, Lotte JACOBI, Sarah JONES, Gertrude KÄSEBIER, Ursula KAUFMANN, Barbara KLEMM, Ute KLOPHAUS, Annelise KRETSCHMER, Germaine KRULL, Brigitte LACOMBE, Inez van LAMSWEERDE, Ergy LANDAU, Dorothea LANGE, Annie LEIBOWITZ, Helen LEVITT, Ruth Harriet LOUISE, Ingeborg LUDOWICI, Dora MAAR, Madame D'ORA, Madame YEVONDE, Sally MANN, Mary Ellen MARK, Margarethe MATHERm Linda McCARTNEY, Frances McLAUGHLIN-GILL, Susan MEISELAS, Lee MILLER, Lisette MODEL, Tina MODOTTI, Lucia MOHOLY, Sarah MOON, Inge MORATH, Barbara MORGAN, Nelly, Isolde OHLBAUM, Meret OPPENHEIM, Bettina RHEIMS, Sophy RICKETT, Leni RIEFENSTAHL, RINGL+PIT, Charlotte RUDOLPH, Lise SARFATI, Nina SCHMITZ, Eva SERENY, Marilyn SILVERSTONE,Vanina SORRENTI, Liselotte STRELOW, Karins SZEKESSY, Joyce TENNESON, Deborah TURBEVILLE, Ellen von UNWERTH, Donata WENDERS, Dorothy WILDING, Francesca WOODMAN, Wanda WULZ)
Exhibitions (a selection)
- 1980: 'La vie et la mort', Les Rencontres D'Arles, France;
2004: 'Martine Franck Photographe', Musée de la Vie romantique, Paris and at Les Rencontres d'Arles Festival;
2011: 'Venus d'ailleurs', Maison européenne de la photographie (MEP), Paris;