We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Harry Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Harry, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I have been working on a project photographing people in one of the most undesirable neighborhoods in San Francisco called the Tenderloin. I wanted to show a community that is often overlooked and associated with homelessness and drugs. I began photographing people on a particular corner called Jones & Ellis Street. After almost a year I partnered with the local liguor store and they gave me two sides of a corner store they own to put my artwork up on display. I made 36″x48″ prints and pasted them on the wall of all the locals I had photographed over the last year. The reaction was great by the community, Everyone whose photo was on the wall felt like a star.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have a degree in photography from The Ohio State University, I didn’t want to go into commercial photography so in 1998 I sold all my possessions and decided to travel to south east asia for a year to work on my photography. After the trip I came back and started to freelance doing visual merchandising, I was very fortunate to have great mentors in this field and it also aloud me to keep making trips back to south east Asia to keep building my portfolio. My whole goal was to split my time between and art and work. Fast Forward and I moved to San Francisco and was able to land a job with Pottery Barn doing visual merchandising, A creative director job with kids clothing brand and many other retailers. Currently I am still freelancing doing interior designs and retail spaces.

Have you ever had to pivot?

During covid all Brick and mortar retail was killed, so I needed to pivot and took a contract role through aquent temp services I work almost 2 years with apple as a production manager.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Hands down it’s not when someone tells me they like one of my photos or I win a contest, Its when I hand a photo to someone on the street whom I have photographed and it moves them to tears because someone has not only acknowledged but also has taken the time to bring them a signed print. I don’t make money of portraits of people I shoot on the street. Seeing this reaction keeps me motivated.

Contact Info:

• Website: harrywphoto.com
• Instagram: @hwilliamsjrphoto

Image Credits
please credit @hwilliamsjrphoto for all 8 images