Photo Reading: Martine Franck

Joel Meyerowitz, an American street, portrait, and landscape photographer, said the moment of seeing is like waking up. The truth of this statement can be found when we see memorable photos. The photos that make us pause to pay close attention and the images remain in our memory for a long time. It is as if our eyes are opened by these photographs, they are full of humor, mystery, and surprise; they show how ordinary everyday moments are able to activate the mind with a sudden flash of insight.

In this article, I want to review two photos that I like, try to articulate what interests me, and save in my mind the good-photo criteria to use spontaneously when shooting. Seeing good photos is one effective way to train the eye to be more sensitive in capturing moments.

The two photos I have chosen here are by Martine Franck, a Belgian-born photographer who first discovered her photographic passion in 1963 on a long journey to Asia. A year later, she began working as a freelance photographer in Paris, doing reportage and portrait for Vogue, Life, and New York Times magazines.

Martine Franck has been described by Financial Times as the photographer who stood "in the shadow of the great tree," that of her husband, Henri Cartier-Bresson. When she was doing a solo exhibition in Paris in 2003, Martine Franck began to come out of the shadow of the big tree.

I got to know her name for the first time through the book Women/Femmes (Steidl, 2010). This book features selected photos by Franck on the theme of women. This book brings together a selection of her photographs of women, from factory workers in Bucharest to geishas in Kyoto and encompassing the film stars, artists, writers, and performers she photographed since the 1960s. 

As she wrote on the Steidl website about the book, "I have made a point of photographing women whom I admire, who have done something special with their lives, who have protested against their fate, also those close to me like my daughter and granddaughter and intimate friends." 

The first photo I chose was taken on Tory Island. In 1993-1995, Franck visited the island in northwest Ireland frequently to photograph the daily life of the remote Gaelic community that lives there.

This photo depicts two children jumping over a fence holding hands. Their excitement froze for a moment in the air. The shadow fell on the wall of the fence, in sharp contrast to the bright white of the child's clothes on the left, her hair lifted in a jumping motion. 

The pale sky above them, the low fencing walls, and the layer of sand below awaiting their feet to thump into three flat sections joined together. Their presence on this drab background gives a dynamic gesture that is fun.

Martine Franck Tory Island. Donegal, Ireland. 1995.© Martine Franck | Magnum Photos

The joyful expression this photo transmits is the first thing that makes it attractive. For me, it immediately reminds me of childhood friendships, when courage that hasn't failed much was combined with curiosity and the joy of playing with peers.

There's no doubt what the centerpiece of this photo wants, all in the frame without any unnecessary extras. The sharp shadows of course imply the photo was not taken in the best hours of shooting. But it actually strengthens the story conveyed by the expressions of children who find pleasure even in the hot sun.

That sharp impression is obtained from the second choice photo. This photo was taken in a special library for children, Bibliothèque de Clamart, Hauts-de-Seine, in 1965. The first time I saw it I immediately tried to place it on a ninety-degree rotation and got the same perfection. This photo of children peeking over the edge of the spiral staircase is unfettered by a definition of direction and shape.

Martine Franck, Bibliothèque pour enfants, Clamart, France. 1965

The children who visited the library naturally came with an intrepid spirit. They are of an age who do not like to hide curiosity. A small provocation whether it was a cry of surprise or an attention-grabbing voice would soon spread from end to end of the line.

You can imagine their faces suddenly appearing on the edge of the spiral staircase simultaneously like blossoms of newly blooming flowers. No doubt, this image feels fresh and invites smiles.

There is a touch of humor and surprise in this photo. In format, there are clear leading lines that guide our eyes to follow a conical shape to the center. Then, intuitively, we try to read the events that caught their attention below by looking at the children's facial expressions.

The lesson I learned from reading these two photos was about the clarity of the subject and the story being told. Good photos do not raise doubts as to which direction our gaze should go. If we are often forgiven when we speak incoherently, we may ask to be repeated and add an explanation, but an unclear photo has no chance of being forgiven.

Martine Franck told The Daily Telegraph reporter that she was attracted to photography because she was shy. "I realized that photos were the ideal way to tell people what was happening without having to talk." She spoke through her photos, in a clear and succinct way.

References:
Martine Franck comes out of the shadows at Fondation Cartier-Bresson
Martine Franck, Women/Femmes, Steidl 2010

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