Troy Williams

I’ve been photographing off and on for about 20 years. My interest was to make images that evoked memories of moments lived and moments imagined. Theatrical and cinematic representations of life in my rearview mirror. Moments of adolescent mysticism and teenage heroics. As time went on, these vivid and fantastical representations that had stirred my imagination started to give way to the necessary need to move forward. To start existing in the present. For many years it was a confusing and disappointing task of trial and error. I made countless images that tried to hold onto the parts of me that I begrudgingly didn’t want to let go of. I was changing but I didn’t know what I was changing into. Then came the pandemic. And as we all know, became a time of deep reflection. The necessity to be alone in order to protect ourselves and our community became the catalyst for who I was becoming. And once the lockdown started to recede, I headed out to the streets to begin to live my new life.

Portraits can be deeply moving. The connection between the subject, the photographer and the audience, in my belief, creates a community. It has the ability to bring forth the interiority of our desires, our faith, our aspirations, our apprehensions, our truth. It is this profound power that portraits have that brought me to my current version of myself. I want to experience our self expression intimately. And in the moment, as we live and breathe. And just as important as my need to connect, I make these street portraits as a way to honor and pay attention to the everyday people that I lovingly cross paths with. We are strong, resilient, creative and healing beings that have the power to lift each other up. We inspire when we live out loud with enthusiasm and compassion. Our surface shows so much of our spirit. A photograph is a beautiful vehicle between one soul to another. It is a gift. www.troywilliams.love