In the midst of a worldwide economic crisis (February 2009) Ric Francis quit his staff photojournalist job, with The Associated Press, and embarked on a humanitarian journey as a documentary photographer to cover stories about racism, caste, poverty, marginalized people and climate change.
The path he took was one of being both progressive in his world view and curious about countries that were strongly impacted by the foreign policy of his home country the United States. Thus, it was no surprise that he immediately relocated to South America (after reducing his lifelong possessions to two suitcases), where he spent three years documenting indigenous and Afro-Latino communities throughout the region.
To tell a story in photographs one has to live the story. Being the racially defined “Other” is a central theme of Ric’s photography; it refers to people who are marginalized and alienated. Ric is Other; as a Black American - stigmatized by race - it was never a choice. He adheres to the credo that photographs help us make sense of the world. He uses photography to inform about the experience of being Other because there’s knowledge and beauty in our cultural, religious, ethnic and
