“I want poverty to be seen…I’m trying to send a message. I can’t do it in the pulpit. It’s the only way I know how.”
William Anderson was born in Selma, Alabama, studied sculpture at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel, Mexico (MFA, 1968). Disappointed in the way other people photographed his sculptures, he began taking the pictures himself, and eventually transitioned into a career in photography. His work is focused on documenting the African American experience in the South.
His photography is included in the collections of the National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), The J. Paul Getty Museum (LA), Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, CT), and the High Museum (ATL).
He served as a professor at Morehouse University for many years and was chairman of the art department.
