Documentary Photographer Martine Franck

Photograph by Martine Franck of Dublin, Ireland. "A Cemetary of Stolen Cars in the Darndale Housing Estate." 1993. Magnum Photos (PAR12679.jpg).

When I started searching in ArtSTOR, I had no idea what type of photograph to look for or even which photographer. So, I began browsing through the collections. I was immediately drawn to the Belgian geographical section of the photographs because I studied abroad in Brussels about three years ago. I expected to find pictures of the scenery and spend hours reminiscing, but I found something much more powerful and quite unexpected.

Martine Franck was a prominent Belgian documentary photographer in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. She recently passed away in August 2012.  Her images enrapture me - so much so that I researched about Franck and spent a great deal of time looking through ArtSTOR's collection of her works.  She produces compelling stills with unique shadows, shapes, and messages.  This particular photograph of the car cemetery intrigues me because of assumed innocence of the boys set against the burning rubble of civilization.