Artist Bio

I am a Georgia girl, born and bread. My mom gave me my first camera when I was 10 years old. I carried that camera everywhere, photographing classmates, cousins, and my sister. This habit continued as I got older even into my young adult life. During my travels in the military, as a wife and mother, and as a bakery owner, I continued to photograph people, places, and cakes. I took special interest in the wedding cakes, trying to mimic the images I had seen in food and bridal magazines. It was during this time that I became serious about photography.

My work has a portraiture theme, especially at events and worship services. The portraits I present from such gatherings are the isolated and intimate scenes, perhaps of a baby playing peek-a-boo, a private prayer between a husband and wife, or two old friends greeting each other after a long absence. As a Photo Documentarian, I use my camera to record and present the energy of a protest or the solemness of a Veteran’s funeral.

My mother encouraged me to always take opportunities to photograph family events. Now, when I sit down with a box or album of prints, I am reminded that photography is the documented celebration of our lives. I am also influenced by photographers like Howard Bingham who was the photographer of Mahammad Ali. He photographed Ali in unguarded moments and was able to show the man many grew to love. Like him, I am driven to take advantage of every opportunity to chronicle these times and spaces in our lives.

Artist Statement

My photography serves as an artistic canvas to anyone who desires to tell their story of love, laughter and life events. It is through my lens, that stories are uniquely captured and portrayed in the rarest aesthetics, thus paving the way for words to adequately dance in synchronicity. Pictorial documentation of time and space is just as important as the written word. When reading a story or series of events, we use our imaginative creativity to correlate imagery to match the expressed words. In documentary and event photography my work allows the viewer to formulate their own interpretation of the captured images.

My process sometimes involves using my camera to record from my viewpoint at a gathering or memorable event. Then there are times when I am a witness to an important event or action worth recording in a series of images. In either circumstance this allows for a pure capture and transfer of the emotions to the viewer.

In the portraiture that comes out of event photography, I intentionally explore the diverse participants, sometimes by range of age from the youngest to the oldest. I might choose to shoot a child waiting for an opportunity to finger the icing on the cake; children give an amazing display of authenticity. Another selection would be the Elder Statesman as his conversation has the undivided attention of a young college student.

Presenting an image in black and white instead of color will draw the viewer into the theme, like that of two little girls walking home from school. There are no distractions of beautiful neon yellow backpacks. Then there are times when it is important to bring forth the beauty of color that can be articulated in photography, but not explained. For example, I will capture a tree during the fall that has four different colors of leaves; when only two months earlier, all the leaves were green. This work is important to me because as time passes and we move on, there will be a record of our time in this space.

CV

Rhonda Deborah Williams

Photographer

RhondaWilliamsPhotography.com | rdwilliams.rw5@gmail.com

Education

2020 Studio Arts, Photography, Tidewater Community College

Artist Exhibitions

2019 Tidewater Community Student Art & Design Exhibition

2020 Exhibition Forthcoming

Professional Experience

2019 Photographer, Memorial Service, “Sweet Pea” Whitaker, Norfolk, Virginia

2019 Photographer, Pharrell Williams’ Gospel Choir Concert, Norfolk, Virginia

2018 Photographer, Tidewater Community College Academic Awards, Portsmouth, Virginia

2018 Photographer, Tidewater Community College Open Door Project, Portsmouth, Virginia

2019 Associations

Black Female Photographers, Member - Nationwide Support and Mentorship Program

Virginia Beach Photographers Club, Member - Support Organization