Clay Williams

Clay Williams is a James Beard Award-winning photographer covering food, hospitality, and the people and places that define our culture. Clay shoots assignments for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Food & Wine, and other publications.

Embedded in the food community for more than 15 years, he has had the privilege to bear witness to special moments and everyday life of generations of chefs, farmers, entrepreneurs, and creatives.

Clay’s work in the community led him to co-found Black Food Folks in 2019, which creates spaces for Black food professionals to connect and, between 2020 and 2022, provided over $180,000 in grants to Black-run businesses in food, farming, and media.

A Lifelong New Yorker, Clay lives in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.