BK 50
CLAY WILLIAMS
Photographer
Co-founder, Black Food Folks
Jul 13, 2021
Don’t follow Clay Williams on Instagram if you don’t want to get really hungry. A Brooklyn-based photographer specializing in food, drinks and events, Williams is a prolific shooter for The New York Times, The James Beard Foundation and Zagat. Williams is also a founder of Black Food Folks — “a fellowship of Black professionals in food and drink, promoting and supporting one another for mutual success” — with his partner Colleen Vincent. They host meet-ups and virtual info sessions, and last year announced they would be offering $5,000 in grants to 10 food professionals.
Established in 2019, before the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement, because the restaurant industry has historically overlooked the contributions of Black people, Black Food Folks seeks to counterbalance tokenism and empty promises in the industry. “Until there are Black decision-makers throughout the food world, all of this will just be the latest trend that can be forgotten in a month or a year,” Williams told Edible Brooklyn. “That’s why we’re here, so we don’t have to depend on ‘being topical’ to be heard.”