b. 1945
Armet Francis (born 1945, Jamaica) is best known for his social documentary, advertising, and fashion images. He began working in a commercial photographic studio as a teenager, going on to forge a career shooting commissions for holiday camps, and assignments for The Times Magazine, The Sunday Times, BBC and Channel 4 amongst others. His early images offer a personal record of the world around him, capturing the essence of black British identity; in 1969 he began his now celebrated project The Black Triangle: People of the African Diaspora and Children of the Black Triangle.
Francis’s works have been shown in exhibitions including Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s-Now, Tate Britain (2021); Get Up, Stand Up Now! Generations of Black Creative Pioneers, Somerset House (2019); In a Different Light: New Acquisitions, Autograph, London (2017); Staying Power: Photographs of Black British Experience 1950s-1990s, Black Cultural Archives and V&A (2015); Roots to Reckoning: The Photography of Armet Francis, Neil Kenlock and Charlie Phillips, Museum of London (2005); Reflections of the Black Experience: 10 Black Photographers, Brixton Art Gallery (1986); Armet Francis: The Black Triangle Series: People of the African Diaspora, The Photographers' Gallery (1983); Armet Francis, Commonwealth Institute (1974) amongst others.
His works are held in public collections including Autograph, British Library, Museum of London, Science Museum Group and the Victoria and Albert Museum amongst others.