Francki Burger was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1966. She gained a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design and Honours in Photography from the University of Stellenbosch in 1988. Burger studied photography at Scuola Lorenzo de Medici in Florence, Italy (1989). On returning she worked as a press photographer until 1992. Burger assisted commercial photographers for two years, after which she worked as a freelance professional photographer specialising in portraiture, interiors and corporate assignments. Clients include various magazines and advertising agencies.
She completed an Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts in 2003 and received a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2008. Her thesis investigated photography, landscape and belonging in South Africa. After obtaining her Masters, Burger taught part time at various institutions in Johannesburg, and is currently acting as a supervisor for postgraduate students at Tshwane University of Technology, Photography IV in Pretoria, South Africa.
Apart from exhibiting widely she was the recipient of the Brait - Everard Read Prize, which included an exhibition at Everard Read, Johannesburg and a catalogue of the work exhibited (2008). She also received the international acclaimed Tierney Fellowship Prize and participated in a group exhibition in New York, 2009. In 2012 Burger acted as curator for two group shows at Speke Photographic Gallery @ Circa in Rosebank, Johannesburg. In 2013 Burger did an intensive Alternative Photography course in Rochester, USA, learning wet and dry-plate collodion, a 1860 photographic process. Her work was also included in the 2016 exhibition South Africa: Art of a nation, at the British Museum, London.
