“Let me state for the record, if there was a Mt. Rushmore of photographers, Richard Franklin’s face would be one of the images on the mountain. It is hard to believe that Richard has never had a photography lesson in his life. A look at the body of his work is tantamount to a visit at an upscale art gallery. Some of the images are simply stunning. Richard can tell a story through his camera.”

-Black Men In America.com

Some people have an eye for beauty. If you’ve looked at some of the black models on the Internet, chances are you’ve experienced them through the eyes of glamour photographer Richard Franklin. This distinguished Englishman has made a name for himself creating masterpieces in the form of photography featuring beautiful black women.

I don’t consider myself to be particularly artistic, but I know good work when I see it. Richard Franklin has a gift for photographing models and adding a fresh and unique flair to their existing beauty. When you look at the wide range of models that he has photographed you just get the sense that Franklin has brought out the best in each model. Simply put, Franklin has the skill and the talent to capture in print, the essence of beauty, and he does it exclusively with women of color.

Franklin’s photography includes fitness, bikini and lingerie shots. He’s conducted shoots in Miami, the Caribbean, Los Angeles and Brazil. This self-taught photographer has no nudity on his web site Richard Franklin Photography. Franklin prefers to bring out the natural beauty of his models.

Franklin has a very interesting background. The son of a banker, Franklin was born in London in the house of Sir Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered penicillin. His father’s side of the family was one of the oldest Jewish families in England. His grandfather was a cantor, the singer of Jewish prayers in the Synagogue service.

His family moved to the U.S. in 1980, and his father found success in New York where he became a leader in the corporate takeover movement until he retired in 1990. “I first lived in Miami for a while and ran an unsuccessful furniture company and for a very short while owned a model agency,” said Franklin. In 1984, he joined his father’s company and had a very exciting time at his side for four years. After the company disbanded, Franklin decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps and turned his attention to other projects.

Over the next several years Franklin worked on improving the education in the American school system, made a documentary on the Holocaust for PBS with Dr. Ruth, was instrumental in launching the career of Fabio, produced a play and worked with pop singer Toma.

When you look at his work its hard to believe that Franklin got into photography about five years ago as a form of therapy to cope with the disappointment over the failure of some of his ventures. Franklin explained, “My parents had retired to Antigua in the Caribbean and I first began to shoot pictures of the beach and of my family. I read camera books and manuals and gradually began to think of shooting girls. I made friends with other glamour photographers mostly from the adult world and started to shoot (very erratically) girls in my home. I had only been attracted to dating black girls since Alex (a former black Flight Attendant he met and moved in with. She later co-starred in the movie Passenger 57 with Wesley Snipes). Since that time Franklin said he began to concentrate on black women, his main subject and passion.

Franklin was kind enough to answer questions about his success as a glamour photographer. We hope you enjoy this interview.

The Richard Franklin Interview

BMIA.com: What was your earliest or most vivid recollection of being or feeling different?

Richard Franklin: I was an unhappy child and that continued quite late into adulthood. I had low self-esteem and basically disliked myself. I had a very sensitive nature and loved classical music from a very early age. I fantasized a lot about being a sports or movie star or a superhero! Being the son of a successful father can have disadvantages also. Looking back I think I had an artistic and creative mind but had no outlet for it. The banking background I came from is based on logic and verification. The arts are very much based on the emotions. I suspect I only became a contented person after much struggle to recreate myself as an independent creative soul in Los Angeles . For most of my life I lived in the past or future. It took many years to learn to live in the present.

BMIA.com: How old were you when you moved to the United States of America?

Richard Franklin: 30.

BMIA.com: What makes you different?

Richard Franklin: I think that concentrating only on women of color is the first thing. That’s almost unique. Secondly I clearly have a love for very vivid colors and that is also a signature of my work. My love of color came long before my interest in women of color. When I was a child my bedroom had a purple carpet and my walls were bright yellow. I simply loved bright colors. I remember having a lust at a very early age for a black woman that I saw in a naughty magazine. However, amazingly enough I don’t believe I ever met a black person until I was in my thirties. I never heard a word of prejudice against blacks in England. There just were very few living on my side of the Thames in London when I was growing up and they had not yet become a successful minority. I never met a Japanese, Chinese, Russian, etc, etc growing up. Life in England is very different now and there are many very successful minority groups.

BMIA.com: Why do you think models come to you?

Richard Franklin: I would like to think that I have a good reputation for quality work. Girls are attracted, I think, to my use of color and hopefully my good taste in composition. They want to look as sexy as possible and also to have a distinctive look. My reputation is “sexy but classy” and I think the majority of women want that look.

BMIA.com: Have you always wanted to be a glamour photographer?

Richard Franklin: At different times in my life I have wanted to be a great skier, tennis player, violinist, actor and martial artist! Glamour photographer is pretty cool so I can dig it and do without the other dreams on my list!

BMIA.com: What other creative endeavors are you a part of?

Richard Franklin: I have an active interest in an Internet business.

BMIA.com: Do you have any hobbies?

Richard Franklin: My photography is my hobby. I read a quote the other day, attributed to Socrates which said, “…the man that truly loves his work never works a day in his life.”

Richard Franklin: How involved are you with the business aspect of your career? I am a latecomer to photography. I think the time is coming nearer when I can turn whatever skills I have acquired to profitable use. Up until now I have not really capitalized on my work. I wanted to build up a quality site and then let people come to me who liked the work. That is now happening. I want to expand my range in the coming months by doing a lot of exotic beach shoots in the Caribbean and Brazil. I am also planning some calendar shoots. I subscribe to the old maxim “do what you love and the money will follow.” I hope to have a long and profitable career in this field but it takes a long time to get established and to find your niche. Van Gogh never sold a painting in his life! Hopefully I will have a more enjoyable and lucrative career than him but there is a lot of luck, and sometimes politics in the subjective artistic field.

BMIA.com: Are there any photography jobs that you won’t do?

Richard Franklin: Frankly I don’t take on jobs if I don’t have a passion for my subject. I shoot girls that I see as cute or beautiful. If I feel that they don’t appeal to me or that I cannot give them the quality they deserve I simply decline to do the work. I don’t rely on photography for my livelihood and so I have the luxury of being able to make choices. But I am not frivolous about it. A more direct answer to your question is that I seldom shoot children, products, fine art or frankly even much fashion. I stay in a fairly narrow band of glamour work.

BMIA.com: What’s the best part of being a glamour photographer?

Richard Franklin: The satisfaction of a job well done, a satisfied client and a new addition to my web site (Richard Franklin Photography).

BMIA.com: What’s the worst part of being a glamour photographer?

Richard Franklin: Failing to live up to the expectations of my client and of myself. In addition I try to reach a new plateau each time I shoot. Accordingly it is very hard to come up with an original concept, particularly on a limited or zero budget.

BMIA.com: What do you look for in a model?

Richard Franklin: The first thing is whether I see her as having a cute or beautiful face and a body that will look great in a bikini. The second thing I look for is her attitude and energy level.

BMIA.com: What makes you accept a model assignment or turn it down?

Richard Franklin: I shoot girls that I think I will succeed in making sexy and glamorous and that I would be proud to have on my web site.

BMIA.com: When people look at your work, what do you want them to see?

Richard Franklin: An impressive gallery of beautiful and sexy girls presented with a distinctive and classy style.

BMIA.com: Of all the models that you’ve photographed, who do you think yielded your best work and why?

Richard Franklin: I have always loved my close up shots of DIA who was one of my first models. She has one of the cutest faces I have seen. She recently married one of the Tennessee Titans, Samari Rolle so I am delighted for her.

BMIA.com: How big a factor is sex in the modeling business?

Richard Franklin: I am no saint but I am frequently surprised by how few of my photographer friends hit on their models even though they have the opportunity. The truth is that shooting and modeling are pretty intense and exhausting activities and so there is probably less sex going around than one might suppose.

BMIA.com: Are you married? Single? Have a significant other?

Richard Franklin: I am single and have no particular significant other at present. I am a happy bachelor. I love getting to know some of my different models and have dated a few. Hollywood is notoriously shallow when it comes to relationships. I like the single life and I think that that probably derives from a deep seated fear of being vulnerable to being hurt or of disappointing someone else by failing to live up to their expectations.

BMIA.com: Does being a successful glamour photographer affect your personal relationships?

Richard Franklin: I don’t think so. I am grateful that I meet more eligible girls than most men dream of. I think it makes both men and women intrigued. Since I am very upfront I wouldn’t want to date a girl who was insecure about what to me is my passion and a very pivotal part of my life. If they can’t accept that then goodbye!

BMIA.com: Take us through a typical day with Richard Franklin. What time does your day start and when does it end?

Richard Franklin: I am an early riser. I like to be busy and I go to sleep late. I usually work out in the morning and if I have a shoot planned usually meet up with the model, stylist and make-up artist around noon. I usually start shooting at two and go on until we run out of ideas. I then enjoy editing the shoot and that can go on until two or three in the morning. Like anything else this is work and is only glamorous to outsiders who don’t know any better.

BMIA.com: Would you say that photographing black beauties is your claim to fame?

Richard Franklin: Well it’s certainly what I am known for in the photography world as it’s the only type of work that I do. I am proud of the fact that I took a stand and decided to focus on that. It gave me a pretty unique and pleasurable niche that made me stand out. If I was more of a general photographer shooting men, children, fashion, portraits, black and white etc, I suspect I would be unknown. I am proud of other things that I have achieved in my life that may never have fame or fortune attached to them but were deeply meaningful to me. Personally I am not a religious person but am very motivated and optimistic nonetheless. I see life as essentially meaningless other than the meaning we personally choose to give to our lives. Then it becomes totally and overwhelmingly meaningful. I have stood for ideas and for causes that were often stressful and lonely. But by taking a stand I achieved distinction in my own mind and at the end of the day that is the only place where it counts.

BMIA.com: I get the sense that you feel more comfortable with black women and black people than any other group. If this is true, why do you think that’s the case?

Richard Franklin: Ok you asked for it! I am a Jew and I think the Jew’s are a colored race. We both share a terrible history. My people suffered for two thousand years at the hands of the same people who brought slavery to your people three hundred years ago. We know all there is to know about ghetto’s. The word ghetto comes from 15th century Venice and describes the area that the Jews were forced to live in. Although I am a very secular Jew I wish that more black people would look at Judaism as a more logical alternative to some of the other religions being shopped around. It’s not my nature to generalize, particularly about an entire racial group but I am definitely more physically attracted to black girls than white and I like the warmth that I have found in much of my interactions with the black community.

BMIA.com: How would you describe your style of photography?

Richard Franklin: “Sexy and classy photographs of beautiful women of color.”

BMIA.com: What advice would you give to people who want to make a living in the photography business?

Richard Franklin: Develop your eye and develop your mind. Study your craft by reading photography books and learning to duplicate other shoots in order to hone your skills. Make friends with other photographers in order to learn from then. Develop your own unique style by allowing out your inner passion and creativity. Create a website that tastefully showcases your work. Put together a portfolio of your best work, printed by a lab and not from your home printer. Relentlessly take it to potential clients such as model and ad agencies. Keep hope alive!

Richard Franklin lives in Los Angeles, CA. You can see more of his photography at www.rfmodelphotography.com or contact him at [email protected]