For more than four decades, the Jamaican-British photographer Armet Francis has made it his mission to document the African diaspora.

At this event – coinciding with Beyond the Black Triangle, Autograph’s exhibition of Francis’ work – curator Mark Sealy will be in conversation with author and journalist Gary Younge. Together they will discuss how joy, resilience and resistance underpin Francis’ work and expand on the significance of Francis’ contributions to British culture. Following the conversation, there will be a Q&A with the audience, and the opportunity to view the exhibition.

Francis’ exhibition commences a year-long celebration highlighting Autograph’s ongoing commitment to curate and preserve the legacy of practitioners such as Francis, who was a founding signatory of Autograph back in 1988.

The ticket price for this event is £5. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. If this ticket price is unaffordable for you please get in touch with Harriet at harriet@autograph-abp.co.uk about free ticketing options.

About the speakers

Gary Younge is an award-winning author, broadcaster and a professor of sociology at the University of Manchester in England. Formerly a columnist at The Guardian he is an editorial board member of the Nation magazine, the Alfred Knobler Fellow for Type Media and winner of the 2023 Orwell Prize for Journalism.

He has written six books: Dispatches From the Diaspora, From Nelson Mandela to Black Lives Matter; Another Day in the Death of America, A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives; The Speech, The Story Behind Martin Luther King’s Dream; Who Are We?, And Should it Matter in the 21st century; Stranger in a Strange Land, Travels in the Disunited States and No Place Like Home, A Black Briton’s Journey Through the Deep South. He has also written for The New York Review of Books. Granta, GQ, The Financial Times and The New Statesman and made several radio and television documentaries on subjects ranging from gay marriage to Brexit.

Dr Mark Sealy OBE, RPS Outstanding Service Award; Executive Director of Autograph (1991 -) and Professor, Photography, Rights and Representation at University Arts London – London College of Communication. Sealy is interested in the relationship between art, photography and social change, identity politics, race, and human rights. He gained his PhD from Durham University, England. He has written for many of the world’s leading photographic journals, produced numerous artist publications, curated exhibitions, and commissioned photographers and filmmakers worldwide.

In addition, he is an advisor (management + committees) to several leading cultural institutions, including Tate, Paul Mellon Centre for the Studies in British Art, Art Fund, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, World Press Photo, and the International Centre of Photography in New York, USA.

Lawrence and Wishart have published Sealy’s critical writings on photography. Photography: Race, Rights and Representation, published 2022 and Decolonising the Camera: Photography in Racial Time, published 2019.

Everyone is welcome at Autograph. We care about our visitors, staff, artists and community, and have measures in place to help ensure a safe visit for everyone. Have a look at our Visit Us page, it has full information about accessibility at Autograph.