{"id":2538,"date":"2013-06-04T12:00:22","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodfoodjobs.com\/blog\/?p=2538"},"modified":"2013-06-03T18:36:00","modified_gmt":"2013-06-03T18:36:00","slug":"clay-williams-photographer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodfoodjobs.com\/blog\/clay-williams-photographer\/","title":{"rendered":"Clay Williams \/ Photographer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.goodfoodjobs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Clay-blog.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2539\" title=\"Clay Williams, photographer\" src=\"http:\/\/www.goodfoodjobs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Clay-blog-e1370283838924.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"266\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>We met Clay in the same way that he probably meets many of his future clients: he walked up and introduced himself with a friendly smile. It was already hard not to notice the tall guy with the taller hair carrying a giant camera as if it were weightless. But if he hadn&#8217;t been so good at making introductions, we might not have made the connection. Which is exactly why we believe his advice about how to make it as a freelancer. For a behind-the-scenes view of restaurant kitchens and more, check out his\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/claywilliams.photoshelter.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">portfolio<\/a> and \u00a0his current\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/ultraclay.com\/wordpress\/\" target=\"_blank\">Food\/Work<\/a> project. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><strong><em>When did you know that you wanted to work in food? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was photographing and blogging about food from 2006, but didn&#8217;t have much in the way of focus. It wasn&#8217;t until I went to one of Tom Mylan&#8217;s early butchering classes at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thebrooklynkitchen.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Brooklyn Kitchen<\/a> in 2008 that I discovered what I really love shooting. Watching Tom turn a pig into food was huge for me. As a home cook and a photographer, I discovered an entire new world. I wanted to see and shoot everything that happened behind the scenes &#8211; in kitchens and butcher shops and markets.<\/p>\n<p>From there, I started asking butchers to let me photograph them, then I took my camera with me to restaurants with open kitchens, then I was shooting food events and meeting people in the industry who would let me photograph their process. I eventually turned this into a long-term project called Food\/Work, which documents the people and the process that goes into getting food to our tables.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>How did you get your current good food job? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m a freelancer, so I&#8217;m perpetually looking for the next good food job. Mostly, it involves getting in front of people as much as possible, whether it&#8217;s going to events, shooting personal projects or pitching ideas to potential subjects and clients.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a Good Food Job?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In another life, I was an IT guy. In that field, you can either spend all your time putting out fires or you can observe what people do and proactively offer solutions. I like to watch and understand what&#8217;s happening around me, so I do it in the kitchen, too. More often than not, my subject isn&#8217;t so much the food as much as the work that goes into it. Cutting, cooking, plating, there&#8217;s so much that happens and I find it fascinating.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your Good Food Job dream?<br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nThe biggest problem for any photographer right now is the idea that anyone can take a picture and it&#8217;s all the same. I come across a lot of people that think that an intern with an iPhone can do the same thing as someone who has put real time into honing their skills. It&#8217;s frustrating, especially in an industry that places such a high value on craftsmanship and technique.<\/p>\n<p>Still, there are many people who understand that while anyone can take a snapshot, a great photograph is something else entirely and it should be valued.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Travel. The hardest part of moving from the corporate world to self-employment is the constraints it&#8217;s put on my travel schedule. There are cities all over the world I want to explore. My hope is to find more clients interested in food and kitchen photography beyond the New York area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We met Clay in the same way that he probably meets many of his future clients: he walked up and introduced himself with a friendly smile. It was already hard not to notice the tall guy with the taller hair carrying a giant camera as if it were weightless. 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