Francis A. Willey

Poet𓁹Internationally exhibited, awarded 35mm film photographer 𓁹 Pianist/ singer / The Elegant Daggers.

A multi-expressive artist.

Francis A. Willey – Artist Biography

Francis A. Willey is a self-taught, multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans traditional film photography, piano composition, poetry, drawing, and songwriting. Known for their emotive and introspective work, Willey engages with themes of memory, identity, loss, and resilience through a multi-expressive lens, working under the artistic moniker manyeyescity.

Born in the late 1960s, Willey came of age during a transformative era. Raised in a non-conventional and complex environment shaped by countercultural influences, they are the son of a rebellious father affiliated with the Hells Angels and other rebel bike gangs and a mother who was both an orphan, that later became a poet. Their early life was steeped in the raw authenticity of prairie life—surrounded by rodeo bronc riders, long-haul truckers, and vivid scenes of celebration, documented by their mother and grandmother using Polaroid cameras.

Willey’s formative years were marked by adversity, including familial violence, loss, and unresolved trauma. A tragic family incident left a lasting impact and underscored the absence of a secure foundation. Amidst this instability, artistic expression became a vital refuge. Through poetry, collage, drawing, and photography, they began to create spaces of healing and self-definition.

At age twelve, Willey was gifted a KODAK camera by their mother, June. The first image they captured was a portrait of her—an intimate beginning to a lifelong exploration of visual storytelling. This moment sparked an enduring relationship with the camera and the creative process.

Willey's work is deeply influenced by nature, dreams, and the emotional richness of human connection. Their creative journey led them to travel extensively through the Himalayas and Southeast Asia, where immersive experiences in monasteries and local communities deeply shaped their worldview and artistic sensibilities. These travels during the 1990s brought a deeper complexity and diversity to their photographic work, blending cultural resonance with poetic vision.

In 2011, Willey experienced profound personal loss when a house fire destroyed their home, studio, and a substantial portion of their creative archive—including photographic negatives, drawings, darkroom equipment, and film cameras. While much of the work was lost, fragments remain and serve as powerful testaments to both vulnerability and endurance.

Today, Willey continues to work with analog processes, including 35mm film and traditional darkroom techniques, while also integrating ink, paint, sound, and digital media. Their practice is an ongoing dialogue between the internal and external worlds, capturing the beauty, sorrow, and joy that define human experience.

Willey acknowledges with respect that they live and create on the traditional territories of the Treaty 7 region in southern Alberta, including the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy)—the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai Nations—the Tsuut'ina Nation, and the Îyârhe Nakoda (Stoney Nakoda) Nations of Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley. Calgary is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III.

With ancestral roots that are Scottish, French Canadian, Cree, and Cheyenne, Willey honours their maternal Cree heritage and the oral histories passed down through generations. They remain committed to recognizing and uplifting the languages, cultures, and continuing creative presence of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples across Canada.

Willey is deeply engaged with the local arts community through mentorship, collaboration, and artistic documentation. They are guided by the belief that art has the power to cultivate empathy and contribute to a more compassionate and inclusive culture.

P H O T O G R A P H Y
MANYEYESCITY

Testimonials:

“Francis is one of my favourite contemporary photographers. His lovely, ethereal, but also very real images show us the magic and mystery that can be found in our modern world. We just need to know where to look.” Dr.Theodora Goss(Senior Lecturer at Boston University. MFA/Ph.D. Boston University.)

"Francis Willey is a true artist; the strength of vision he brings to his work is rarely seen in contemporary photography. Through both his art and his interactions, Francis shines a light into an often dark and unforgiving world."-
Sienna Hayes(Model and Aerialist)

"Francis places the poetry into the photography"- Paul Kelly (Director)

"It's truly beautiful and legitimizes photography as an art. With all the trashy "fashion photography" floating around and unexciting commercial stuff that I do on a regular basis for magazines and print, I've forgotten why I even like to be photographed at all. Your work has just reminded me that it's because once in a great while there's a chance to be part of the creation of an image like yours, where a woman's body or face can be sexy in a softer, subtle way rather than so harshly presented as an object. So thanks."
Christine Donlon
(Actress and Writer)

“I have no words, upon seeing blindness”
Alexander McQueen (Fashion Designer)

“I like how your head works”
Douglas Kirkland (Photographer)

"Francis, I might not know from where the cold wind blows, but I know what I like and I dig your work. You can take that to the bank on your way mental baby! Don't go, Don't go yet, it's wonderful stuff."
Christopher Walken (American actor, dancer, director, screenwriter, and playwright)
His work has been exhibited, published, and internationally awarded. NYC, Los Angeles, Berlin, Paris, and Italy, his photographs are collected internationally and are part of the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Art. His photographic book 'Ghost' was awarded 3rd prize in Paris at the PX3 awards in the fine art book category.

Blindness has caused political and social reverberation, through the deliberate appropriation of the image in a multitude of cultures, countries, and religions worldwide.

He is currently represented by
TheCollectorsGalleryofArt &
OTHER
Vogue Italia

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