Photographer Stuart Franklin often gives us some of the coolest stories about his images. For the current Magnum Square Print sale, there’s a theme around the idea of a Fable. And this year, we’re seeing some positively incredible work that can’t be easily made or duplicated otherwise. Indeed, real photographers are bringing out their best stuff for this sale. We’ve known Stuart to have a bit of an unconventional side when it comes to his images. But we didn’t expect there to be a full multiple exposure. But the story behind this photograph is very impressive; and to us, it’s his most intriguing photo.
Image by Stuart Franklin. Used with permission. The Magnum Square Print sale for FABLE ends on May 5th.
Here’s what Stuart told us:
Multiple exposure comes about in two ways: by accident or intent. In the case of the picture from Białowieża forest in the Square Print Sale it was an accident. I had made the classic mistake of reloading a pre-exposed 5×4 double dark slide. I didn’t print the image in 1997, when I made the picture. However, going through the contact sheets in 2023, and after using a number of intentional double exposures since 2020, I decided that I liked it. What does a multiple exposure do? First, it builds up overlapping layers of imagery much as you see in cinema dissolves, such as in Godard’s Le Livre d’ Image. Godard and Tarkovsky used dissolve (in certain cases) to layer the present onto the past. I have used it to enrich the experience of the present. In photography if you make double exposures in the camera (as I do) there is a huge element of chance which is very exciting. Often the resulting picture simply doesn’t work, but when it does it yields an image that is both special and unique.
We’re in love with this photograph for several reasons. Stuart’s maturity as a photographer shows because he was able to make the most of a bad situation. Overall, it’s rare for us to see a double exposure. But to also see it from a Magnum photographer is something even more rare. There are several layers to this image that can be interpreted in so many different ways with the forest, deforestation, and the reclamation by nature. Considering it’s in black and white, it’s also very eerie, and gives a bit of a Blair Witch vibe.
It’s surely one of our favorites for this reason.