Stuart 'Tank Man' Franklin's 3 fave Artspace photos
Beaches, blasts and branches! The Documentary Impulse author and Tank Man photographer makes his choice
The documentary photographer Stuart Franklin is responsible for taking one of the powerful photographs in the history of the 20th century. It was Franklin who photographed ‘The Tank Man’ - a lone man bringing to a halt a line of tanks entering Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.
He is a member of Magnum Photos, working as president of the photo agency between 2006-2009 and has just published a Phaidon book, The Documentary Impulse in which he explores the human drive behind documentary photography. Here are three of ten of his favourite photographs available to see and buy on Artspace.
Olivo Barbieri - Adriatic Sea (Staged) Dancing People Series
I’m drawn to the sunniness of the photographs, the strange buzz of arranged social life on an Italian beach, soft, soft shadows and the colour palette: Cerulean blue and ochre. Roll on summer.
Naoya Hatakeyama - Blast #14117, 2007
Hatakeyama’s industrial work is hugely impressive. His published (2002) work on lime kilns in Japan is complemented by the impressive “Blast” series from 2007. One of Hatakeyama’s great strengths is as a colourist.
Graciela Iturbide - Vevey, Switzerland, 2009
I have always admired Iturbide’s work. This picture is untypical of her larger oeuvre. Yet it’s an inspiring and powerfully captured tree photograph. With arms and fingers reaching out, trees always feel so connected to us. Iturbide makes this relationship explicit.
See and read about all ten of Stuart Franklin's picks at Artspace. And find out more about, and buy, The Documentary Impulse here.
