Recent

Launched See For Yourself, a six-week, in-person photo workshop to support development of photo authorship and personal vision

Performed a two-hour solo acoustic set of original songs and stories at Takoma Bev Co

Gave a Resistance Tech presentation at a Washington MusicViva classical music concert

While living in Kenya, led a photo workshop at the Human Needs Project in Nairobi’s Kibera slum, and provided long-term mentorship to the new generation of local documentary photographers telling their stories

Photo Services

See the Portraits and Events pages for more about my photographic services.

Browse a selection of fine-art prints.

Mentorship, consulting, and custom presentations are also available for individuals and organizations. Want to bring a See For Yourself photo workshop module to your school to help students develop personal vision with any camera? Contact me with inquiries.

Manifesto

Photography is not just pictures, it’s a stance: curiosity, empathy, a worldview, being present.

It’s about our relationship with life, our habitat, each other, our inner selves - and the future.


What does that mean?

Photography, more than most art forms, requires rigorous, energetic interaction with real life, based on respect for ordinary people and appreciation of the world. (Which is why AI cannot be considered photography.)

Landscape photos are about our relationship with our habitat. Portraits are about empathy, our relationships with each other. Our best, most powerful creative ideas come from being in tune with our sensibilities, our inner selves.

All these relationships are under duress. Photography offers an antidote to our disconnection and malaise. It’s a rebel-mindfulness.

The best art for our moment doesn’t care about celebrity, status, or money. It doesn’t sugarcoat but also doesn’t add to our weight. It doesn’t have to be didactic art to do its job. Art gives us reason to carry on by being good art.

We are in a war to preserve our humanity.

I believe by creating forward-looking art we are helping to imagine the future we want, guide us to it, and provide the spirit to get there.

- Bill

Bio

Bill Crandall’s background demonstrates deep experience and innovation across photography, arts education, music, and grassroots arts organizing. His arts practice is grounded in a commitment to truth-telling, authenticity, empathy, and community. Values that are often endangered but essential to our most pressing and even existential issues. What unites his creative approach is an emphasis on personal voice (what he calls ‘authorship’), sense of place, equanimity, and distilling broad subjects to their humanistic implications.

Bill is a leading documentary photographer in the Washington DC area, recently back from two years living in Nairobi, Kenya. He has won awards and grants, exhibited internationally, and has been published by publications such as New York Times, Washington Post, National Geographic’s photo blog, and countless others. In his long-form personal projects he has taken nuanced looks at:

  • Daily life in post-Soviet Belarus

  • Gentrification in Washington DC

  • The climate crisis

  • Fracking

  • Urban Nairobi

Bill was voted Best Visual Artist in Washington City Paper’s 2015 reader poll.

As a full-time photography educator at the prestigious Maret School for fifteen years, Bill integrated forward-looking ideas about empathy, personal vision, and nature into his photo curriculum for young people. In addition he has taught private photo workshops from the World Bank to Minsk to Nairobi’s Kibera slum.

As a solo musician and singer-songwriter, Bill’s original music is both melodic and atmospheric. He labels himself a ‘future-folk’ artist - themes and stories not of the past but that imagine the future we want. He conceived and created a unique music-photo hybrid project, the 2016 concept album New World Voyage, about the first humans to leave Earth forever for barren Mars. The songs and accompanying art booklet imply the need to safeguard the environment of our only home.

As an organizer, he has hosted numerous local art salons, concerts, meetups, and discussion events at the grassroots level. He promoted the role of art and artists in shaping our future through his Viaduct Arts email newsletter. During COVID, he hosted a series of socially-distanced driveway concerts, funded by the city government, for his community and to support local artists. He brought a photo exhibition on the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl to the United Nations and Capitol Hill. He created a collaborative exhibition/workshop to help photographers in authoritarian Belarus. Over the years he has been involved in projects around climate, fracking, BLM, and Ukraine.

He has given artist talks at the International Center for Journalists, the National Press Club, American University Metropolitan Policy Center, and the FotoweekDC photo festival, among others.

Student Testimonials

“You taught me that art is everywhere, and can be done by anyone. It's been an amazing and rewarding journey.”

"I'm very grateful to have a teacher who created such a positive and caring environment."

"I've learned so much, from the basics of photography to exploring more of what makes me me."

"It was your perfect balance of guidance and allowing for artistic freedom and experimentation."

"I feel so lucky to have learned about photography from an expert whose work I so greatly admire."

"It's amazing how my view on the world has changed because of this class."

"You taught me how to process and capture the world around me in a new way - it has been truly life-changing."

"I will never forget your mentoring. You helped me develop not just as an artist, but as a human being as well."

"I am so proud of what you have helped me create. You are truly a gifted teacher."

Letter of Recommendation - May 2025

Hassan Ahmed (Founder, Kibra Film and Creative Hub - Nairobi, Kenya)

Sometimes miracles are just good people with kind hearts. This is how I can simply describe Bill Crandall. There aren’t enough words to vividly tell who Bill is.

During his stay in Kenya, Bill spent time teaching photography in Kibera (aka Kibra), the largest informal settlement in Africa. Bill’s work has had a profound impact on the lives of his students and the wider community. With a passion for both teaching and social change, Bill dedicated his time and skills to empowering disadvantaged young individuals through the art of photography, providing them with tools to not only capture beautiful images but also to tell their own stories. His teaching goes far beyond technical skills, embracing a philosophy of using photography as a means of self-expression and a way to challenge perceptions of one of Nairobi's most underserved communities.

One of the standout aspects of Bill’s work is his ability to engage students, even those with little prior experience or access to photography equipment. Through hands-on workshops, he teaches both the basics of composition and lighting, as well as black and white photography. His students learn not just how to take a photo, but how to convey powerful messages through their images. His approach is both practical and inspirational, ensuring that each student feels empowered to explore their creativity.

Bill's impact extends beyond the classroom. Recognizing the importance of resources in photography education, he generously donated photography books to our students. This includes books from prominent photographers like Sebastiao Salgado and Paul Strand. More so, he also gave a book titled The Waiting Room showcasing his own work in Belarus. This gesture provides us with valuable knowledge that extends beyond the limited curriculum and opens doors to further learning. The books offer students access to world-class photography techniques, fostering a greater understanding of the global photography landscape and inspiring them to dream bigger.

What makes Bill’s work particularly significant is his commitment to working within Kibera, a community that has numerous challenges such as poverty, unemployment, insecurity and drugs. By providing opportunities in photography, Bill is helping to shift the narrative about Kibera. His students no longer see themselves as limited and hopeless by their surroundings; they are now empowered to express their own realities through the lens of a camera. This kind of work is essential in changing perceptions, not just within Kibera, but across Nairobi and the world at large.

The group exhibition Kibera Unseen was inspired by the workshop that Bill had with photographers from Kibera photographers. He challenged them to change the narrative about Kibera by showcasing positive aspects about the community. The photographers came together and did the first photo exhibition both in and by the community, showing the good side that the world rarely speaks about.

In conclusion, Bill Crandall has not only taught photography, but he has also given his students the confidence to tell their stories, share their voices, communicate effectively and create a lasting impact in their community. His work in Kibera, coupled with his generosity in donating books, has made him an invaluable asset to the local creative landscape. His dedication to teaching, empowering, and inspiring will undoubtedly leave a lasting legacy in the lives of those he’s mentored.