25 years ‘ in the game’

Guyanese photographer evolves childhood passion into rewarding career

DELANO Williams grew up with a love for photography. He has built for himself today a distinguished career in the field and a reputation for excellence to be widely recognised as one of the best photographers in Guyana and the local media landscape.

Williams’ inspiration to pursue professional photography as a career came from his father, Julian Williams, who was an accountant, part-time videographer and hobbyist photographer. As a young boy, he watched with fascination how his father used a filmbased still camera to capture incredible photographs of their family at home in South

Ruimveldt Park (Georgetown). At times, he even accompanied him to develop rolls of film in a darkroom at the Acme Photo Studio. His mother, Evadne Williams, noticed his interest one day before she went to complete her studies in England, and eventually, she gifted him a simple point-and-shoot camera.

Williams then made it a hobby to spend hours staring through the viewfinder of his camera as he focused on snapping photos of people, places, or anything that grabbed his attention. Years later, he decided to turn this immense passion into a profession.

“Photography is about getting that shot. It’s about capturing the essence of the world around me and creating experiences for people,” explained 44-year-old Williams to the Pepperpot Magazine. He shared that his determination to delve into the visual art form using his camera and an eye for creativity and detail is what has led him to devote 25 years of his life to photographing cultural, political and social events across the country’s administrative regions.

Initially, after graduating from St Joseph High School in 1996, he enrolled in the Georgetown Technical Institute (GTI) but subsequently decided to become a clerk at John Fernandes Limited. During this period, Williams got his first professional camera, a Vivitar V4000, a popular camera model back then. He spent his days earnestly practising improving his photographic techniques and skills.

He reminisced that he would experiment with different lighting and lighting equipment, compositions and frames, and the positioning of subjects and objects to find his niche in portraiture or portrait photography before he started seeking freelance photography jobs.

Fortunately, his big breakthrough came in 1999 which ultimately changed the course of his life. Encouraged to apply for the role of a news