Clay Williams is a James Beard Award-winning photographer covering food, hospitality, and the people and places that define our culture. For more than 15 years, his camera has taken him on adventures through sugar cane fields in South Louisiana, to the Mare Piccolo with mussel farmers in Puglia, Italy, on the back roads of Jamaica to eat peppa shrimp and crayfish, and in and out the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants, food trucks, and local gems. His work has appeared in the pages of Food & Wine, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and Travel + Leisure, as well as in several cookbooks including the New York Times Bestseller Gullah Geechee Home Cooking by the late Edisto Island Matriarch Ms. Emily Meggett, as well as books by chefs Todd Richards and Kwame Onwuachi. In 2025, we'll see the publication of Gursha, highlighting Jewish Ethiopian cuisine and culture, Vegan takes on Jamaican and Mauritian food by musician and host Charlise Rookwood, and Indigenous food by chef Crystal Wahpehpah, among others. In 2019, Clay co-founded Black Food Folks, a platform for professionals working in food and food media. The organization has provided physical and virtual spaces to connect, collaborate, and share stories. From 2020 through 2022, Black Food Folks hosted over 200 live online conversations among members of the community and provided over $180,000 in grants to Black-run organizations in food and food media throughout the country. Clay is a member of @DiversifyPhoto and completed Missouri Photo Workshop 74 in Excelsior Springs. When he isn't behind the camera, Clay might be in front of the stove cooking at home or out exploring the world, seeking new experiences and stories. He lives in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Clay is available for assignments and projects in New York, Philadelphia and across the globe.
