Courtney Francis has been predominant in the UK Grime scene over the lats 4/5 years shooting some of the big names in the Grime Scene, working with esteemed publications such as Complex UK and Notion Magazine and becoming the resident photographer for the Eskimo Dance, The Londoner has had his work reposted by Drake, exhibited in the recent Photo Pit exhibition and more. We sat down with Courtney to talk about his journey his thoughts on the importance of credit being given to photographers and merging fashion and Music together.
Give us a brief timeline of your photography career so far so readers can understand who you are and what you do on a daily basis.Â
5 years ago I was shooting for a platform called ‘Model Mayhem’ Which is a social media platform for Make up Artists and models. I incorporated what I had learned from this into my Music photography, which really started through my passion for Music and seeing that no-one was really telling the story of what happened during the night of a show through the lens of a camera.
I shoot because of the love and passion for the art.
 Why UK Music and not Fashion or Sport?
That’s interesting, I’m actually going to revisit fashion photography as that was where I started and marry that with my music photography, I’ve got music artists that I want to shoot in fashion brands. In terms of shooting sports I’m not much of a sports person, Ill watch the big matches and big boxing fights, but I’m not an avid sports watcher.
You focus heavily on the UK Grime Scene within your work and feature a diverse range of artists from New Gen Grime artists to the OG’s in the game, have you developed any close friendships with artists?
I’ve made friends within the scene. People like Stormzy, he’s my friend. He called me out, brought me out on tour so I have to thank him for giving me the opportunity to. Eskimo Dance crew are cool, Aj Tracey, Jammz and Big Zuu, they’re young guys coming up in the scene and they’re making a lot of noise, I really like what they’re doing. I know a lot of artists through me sending them pictures of what I do. They’re on stage doing their job and they don’t necessarily get pictures and footage in return, so when I send them it they’re really appreciative of it and take the time speak to me and thank me for the work. Someone who I’m close to outside of work is Manga, he and I hang out and discuss ideas. I see him as a mentor, he’s one of the OG’s in the scene and has the knowledge so yeah I listen and learn off him.
We really like your project ‘Portrait Session’, explain the concept and the inspiration behind it.
I appreciate that guys, I did the portrait session because I wanted the culture I’m in to be represented properly. I want the artist to have the best professional pictures possible so that they can be displayed to the world in the best way possible. Whether that be press shots, or an album cover I want to provide a service to show them in the best light.
Your work recently featured in the photography exhibition ‘Photo Pit’ along with fellow upcoming photographers Ashley Verse and Vicky Grout amongst others. How did that come about and how did it feel seeing your hard work forming a public exhibition?
That came about through a conversation with Rianna Tamara. Last year we had spoke about displaying our work and she went & secured a collab with Converse, myself, Rianna, Ashley Verse, Vicky and Issac Cambridge we all had the pleasure of displaying the work at the Converse offices in London. It was great to see people recognise my work, and to hear people talk about my work and express their admiration for what we do. It was a good feeling because when you put your pictures on social media you don’t really know if any one likes them, you don’t hear their voiced opinion and you don’t see the facial expressions.
You recently expressed your frustration at photographers not getting credited for their hard work by websites and publications in your “Respect the Shooter” Article, give us an example of when this has happened to you and what you think the solution is for photographers to ensure they get their credit.Â
I don’t know how I’m going to overcome that problem. I was frustrated but at the end of the day it’s one of the biggest artist in the world right now, I can only expect so much from them. Drake took both Ashely Verse’s picture and my picture of that night. I think Ashley took the better picture that night in my humble opinion. Drake posted the picture and it ends up getting 400k likes and no one knows who shot it.
All we want is a simple tag to show the audience who took the picture. All in all it’s down to education. The UK underground music scene is relatively new, we need to help educate the artists, PR’s, news publications and media outlets to put a credit under our name, we want to be professional and follow the people who are doing it before us. Unfortunately big artists posting pictures without credit is part of the game, it’ll get better with everyone taking the initiative to help out each other.
Congratulations on your new role as the Eskimo Dance Resident photographer how did that come about?
Thank you, Eskimo Dance came about with me shooting the show independently. Eskimo Dance liked my pictures and my work; I was then invited to shoot their London show back in 2014. Since then they have kept calling me back, I appreciate them choosing me. In my opinion Eskimo Dance is the number one Grime Event, the team have done a good job of taking this movement national.
You have had a podcast ‘The Focal Point’ since 2015, addressing the behind the scenes of the photography scene in the UK music game, is it still up and running and how does this form of expression differ from your photography?
My writing and podcasts are what happens when I’m not behind the camera lens shooting. It describes everything that people cant see. You see the results of my picture. What you don’t see is me fighting off 20 people in a mosh pit to get that picture. What you don’t see is the travelling to and from the venue, dealing with camera problems, dealing with security trying to push us out of the press pit.
You recently worked with Notion Mag, at the Skepta Konnichiwa concert and Wretch 32 & Avelino. How did that come about?
I’ve had a close relationship with Notion Mag, I’ve shot for them before and Ashley verse being the don he is covers a lot of the publications, so there aren’t many left to cover. Notion contacted me prior to the event and asked me to shoot for them and see if they could display my work alongside a good review of the show. That’s also why I started writing myself. To make sure that its not just the pictures that tell the story but the write up too.
Give us your top three top tips for aspiring portrait photographers?
 1 – Buy a reflector; it’ll give you the ability to control the light
2 – Connect with your subjects, don’t make the camera be a barrier between you and the subject
3- Be creative, try something new to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
What is next for Courtney Francis?
What’s next, hmm, I’m trying to cover festivals, it’s a bit difficult to get into, they’re not going to hire you as a photographer, they’ll link up with media outlets and as a freelance photographer I have to collab with them to get in.
I’d like to shoot more portraits and album art and covers. I’m going to be forming a photography business as I want to corner the market as far as concerts, events and portrait photography goes, I want to have it all under one roof. I will also be getting more into fashion and integrating fashion with the artists I listen to and the artists that are hot in the game right now.
Words: Amandeep Basi –Â @SignorBasi
Keep up with Courtney’s journey by following him on Twitter at @CourtneyFPhoto and check out his website to see more of his work here.
