Historical ARTIST INSPIRATION – Francis Foot – (IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY)

Who is Francis Foot?

Francis Foot was born in 1885, he is from Jersey, he was the son of Francois Foot (1847-1918) and Louisa Hunt (1843-1934). His father Francois was a china and Glass dealer in Dumaresq Street, at a time when the area was one of the more affluent in St Helier.

Foot started his working life as a gas fitter. However, he soon became fascinated by photography and the early phonographs and gramophone records and realised that he could earn a living from them.

So the family took on a second shop in Pitt Street, where Francis worked as a photographer, while his father and mother sold gramophones, records and other wares in Dumaresq Street. After his father’s death, Francis concentrated his photography business in Pitt Street.

Mood Board

I found the images from Google and Jerripedia. As you can see Foot is focused on event photography and portrait and photographing people.

Analyse – Margaret with Dora and George

This photo was taken by Francis Foot at 13:25, its called Margaret with Dora and George and it was taken in 1920. Foot has taken an image of what looks to be a mum with her two children. Foot used the background of a forest to contrast the white clothing of the children. To make them stand out, perhaps this shows how important the children are to the mother. The simple pattern of the clothes, juxtaposes the texture of the leaves and the trees, which reflects on how simple life used to be in the 20th century. Other than that, it is a basic family portrait.

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