Frances Beatty
Frances Beatty
Photographer exploring memory and identity through self-portraits & portraits
BIO
Frances Beatty is a Canadian photographer whose work explores memory, identity, and the fleeting nature of presence. Trained in the darkroom at OCAD University, she works with both analog and digital processes, with a particular emphasis on Polaroid photography. Her images often take the form of self-portraits and portraits, where figures appear layered, obscured, or anonymous, evoking the ways our recollections fragment and transform over time.
Drawing inspiration from cinema, dance, and the natural world, Beatty creates photographs with an ethereal quality that resists resolution. Her work invites viewers to consider how we see ourselves and others: not as fixed beings, but as shifting composites shaped by memory and experience.
Select Works
Frances Beatty (b 1983) Quarantino Day 19 (self-portrait) - 2020 Giclee print on archival paper 10x10 inches
Frances Beatty (b 1983) Self-portrait in July - 2024 Giclee print on archival paper 8x10 inches
Frances Beatty (b 1983) Self-portrait in window - 2019 Giclee print on archival paper 10x10 inches
Frances Beatty (b 1983) Ada in the light - 2022 Giclee print on archival paper 10x10 inches
Frances Beatty (b 1983) Quarantino Day 17 (self-portrait) - 2020 Giclee print on archival paper 10x10 inches
Frances Beatty (b 1983) SELF - Day 2 - 2023 Giclee print on archival paper 10x10 inches
Frances Beatty (b 1983) SELF - day 7 - 2025 Giclee print on archival paper 8x10 inches
Frances Beatty (b 1983) Postpartum - 2021 Giclee print on archival paper 8x10 inches
Frances Beatty (b 1983) Veiled - 2016 Giclee print on archival paper 11x14 inches
Frances Beatty (b 1983) Ada in b&w - 2025 Giclee print on archival paper 16x20 inches
Frances Beatty (b 1983) SELF - day 2 (naive melody) - 2020 Giclee print on archival paper 10x10 inches
Frances Beatty (b 1983) SELF - day 8 - 2020 Giclee print on archival paper 10x10 inches
Artist Statement
Fragmented faces, shifting layers, and fleeting traces—
my work reflects how memory reshapes identity over time.
This ongoing body of work investigates the instability of memory and the fluidity of identity. Using analog, digital, and Polaroid photography, I create portraits and self-portraits that are deliberately obscured, layered, or anonymous. The resulting images suggest how memories shift over time, becoming fragmented or unreliable.
By presenting figures that cannot be fully grasped, the work reflects both the complexity of personal identity and the inconsistencies inherent in recollection. What emerges is a visual meditation on how we perceive ourselves and others: never singular, never fixed, and always shaped by time, memory, and interpretation.
CV
basic info
Frances Beatty
b. 1983 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Lives and works in Kimberley, Ontario, Canada
Education
2002-2007 - OCADU - Toronto, Ontario - BFA in Photography
2009 - Columbia University - Manhattan, New York - Certificate in Publishing
group exhibitions
2023 - Image Nation - GALERIE JOSEPH LE PALAIS - Paris, France
2015 - 2019 - Apples & Arts - KIMBERLEY COMMUNITY HALL - Kimberley, Ontario
2014 - See.Me Takeover - TIMES SQUARE - Manhattan, New York
2013 - The Story of the Creative - Long Island City Gallery - Long Island, New York
solo exhibitions
2013 - Whispers - New York Public Library at Lincoln Centre - Manhattan, New York
awards
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notable collections
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press & publications
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Process video
Find Frances online
Website
www.francesbeattyart.com
www.francesbeatty.com
Email
hello@francesbeatty.com
Social Media
@francesonfilm
@withlove_frances
@francesbeattyphoto