At the age of 14, Williams was one of 25 photographers around the world freelancing for
JET magazine.
JET caught wind of the movement growing in Orangeburg. They needed an onsite correspondent for constant updates, and someone to document the events. Williams has photographed significant desegregation efforts in South Carolina since the 1950s. Some of his most notable pictures are of the activity during the
Briggs v. Elliott case in
Summerton. It was the first of five desegregation cases pushing to integrate public schools in the United States. The five cases combined into
Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that declared that having "separate but equal" public schools for whites and blacks was unconstitutional. In November 2023, Williams's dream of gaining attention to the hijacking of the name,
Briggs v. Elliott, where the U.S. Supreme Court titled the class action suit—Brown v. Board of Education—a suit composed of 5 cases—finally gained some traction. He solicited the help of Dr. Thomas Mullikin—an attorney who practices law in Camden, South Carolina—to assist in filing a petition to the Supreme Court asking to rename the Brown case to Bragg v. Elliott; the first of the cases and catalyst that inspired 4 other suits. A response has not yet been received. As a young professional, he also contributed to other publications, including the
Baltimore Afro-American,
Associated Press, and
Pittsburgh Courier. In January 1960, during Williams' senior year at
Claflin University, he was visiting relatives in New York City. He had read that
John F. Kennedy would be at a downtown hotel at a press conference, and went there in hopes of capturing some images. He forgot his press pass, and the hotel security was about to kick him out of the room right as Kennedy was about to come up to the podium. Kennedy told them not to kick him out, and ended up giving Williams his personal address. For the next year, while campaigning all over the United States, Williams became a close acquaintance of Kennedy, and one of his favorite photographers. Williams was one of the few in the press community to be allowed on Kennedy's private 10-seater jet. He also documented
Harvey Gantt's desegregation of Clemson University in 1963, the 1969 Charleston hospital workers' strike, and the 1968
Orangeburg Massacre. The massacre involved the
South Carolina Highway Patrol shooting and killing three African American men and injuring 27 other
South Carolina State University students. Williams worked as the official photographer for the South Carolina branch of the
NAACP, South Carolina State University, Claflin University, and National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. for more than 20 years, beginning in the 1960s. His work has been exhibited at many institutions and museums, such as Claflin University, University of South Carolina, Columbia Museum of Art, Clemson University, Columbia College, Furman University, Rice Museum in
Georgetown, South Carolina State University, and Museum of the New South in Charlotte. In 2015, Williams invented the FilmToaster, a camera scanning platform and system that digitizes film negatives faster than other methods. In 2019–2020, in collaboration with the Barry and Peggy Goldwater Foundation,
Arizona Highways magazine, and Scottsdale's Museum of the West, photographs by
Barry Goldwater were on exhibit. All the photos were printed by the FilmToaster. Williams owns a portrait studio, event, and wedding photography business based in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He serves as the director of Historic Preservation at Claflin University. He is a
Getty Images contributor and photographer. He also tours the nation giving presentations at conferences, events and institutions about his work during the civil rights movement. He is a member of the
American Society of Media Photographers. == Political activism ==