Araminta de Clermont (b.1971) trained as an Architect, at The Bartlett, U.C.L, before turning to photography, which she studied at Central St Martin’s, London.
Following a move to South Africa she worked for a period as a photographer for The Sunday Times, South Africa, under picture editor Greg Marinovich of The Bang Bang Club. “A complete education in itself, both in photography and in the realities of a nation attempting to recover”.

Her first solo show “Life After” 2008 was an exploration into highly tattooed South African “Number” gangsters, who, having been “kings” in prison, on release struggle to re-integrate into society. Her second series “Before Life” looked at youngsters hailing from the same areas, on the night of their Matriculation Ball, dressed to express their very different hopes and dreams.
Such visual currencies of group identity are an underlying theme of de Clermont”s work, as is the search for a sense of self versus the search for a sense of belonging.
The relationship between the built environment and its inhabitants is also paramount to informing her work.
Her latest series “A New Beginning” focuses on young men (from South Africa’s Xhosa and Sotho tribes), who, after going through a process of initiation in the bush, come out wearing clothes to signify their new status as “real men”.
This work, which also looked at the promise of a new life versus the reality of the townships where the men live, their families having formerly been displaced from rural areas, won de Clermont a career develpoment grant at Spier Contemporary 2010, the biggest national art competition in South Africa.

Her work has appeared in The Times Magazine, Spectrum, Colors Magazine, The Guardian, and Marie Claire U.S.A, amongst others.
She has been exhibited in solo exhibitions in Berlin, London and South Africa, and as part of group shows in America, South Africa, at The Nobel Peace Centre, and in The U.K.
Public Collections include: The University of South Africa, U.C.T, Simmons College, Boston, and The South African National Gallery.
She currently lives and works in London.