Ron Francis was the son of Woking photographer, Sidney Francis. He started his photographic career aged 14 by moving to London to work for commercial photographers, photographing images for the Picture Post and Illustrated Magazine. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Navy and became one of their Photographic Officers.

In 1947, Francis moved to Camberley, taking on the established photographic studio of Hill & Saunders, specialists in military photography and studio portraits. From the 1950s, Francis diversified the business to include industrial photography. Around this time, the studio became known as Ron Francis Photography for Industry and Commerce. The business further expanded to include a second studio and a retail business, selling photographic equipment.

In 2004, a large collection of Ron Francis negatives were donated to Surrey Heath Museum.