UNPERSON by Tim Franco
Introducing our newest publication: UNPERSON.
UNPERSON by Tim Franco is the latest publication by Magenta Foundation you simply will not want to miss. UNPERSON is one of the first photo books of North Korean Defectors. In George Orwell’s 1984, an unperson is someone who has been vaporized, whose record has been erased. As each defector begins their new life, they all start out as an UNPERSON.
The 15 intimate portraits tell the stories of the brave people who decided to take the chance to flee to South Korea. The road to South Korea is dangerous and can take years with the many different borders of Mongolia, Laos, Thailand and China. The people fleeing are filled with the fear of being arrested and sent back to labour camps. Once they arrive in South Korea, they often struggle to find a new identity: Lost between their North Korean past and South Korean future. The hardcover book is available through our online store: magentafoundation.org/shop
Tim Franco travelled to the crossing points, aiming to capture the diversity of landscape that is the background of North Korean defection. He chose a large format camera with Polaroid film to capture each defector.
“The people I chose to portray made the decision to disappear from their own Orwellian world – North Korea. Sometimes for ideological reasons and often by despair, they left behind a life that would disappear forever.” Tim Franco in Lensculture: lensculture.com/projects.
Purchase UNPERSON here.
