Meet Your Atlanta Photographer

Headshot of Chanda Williams

My name starts with ‘ch’ like cherry and rhymes with ‘panda’ …No ‘r’s anywhere.

Hey there!

I’m one of those rare Atlanta natives you hear about, I grew up in Lake Claire near Decatur. After high school I studied sociology and photojournalism in Boston and came right back home to Atlanta after four very cold winters…Turns out living in the cold is a great way of figuring out that you love the heat. Even that hot car feeling.

I’ve always been the girl with the camera, seeing life one picture at a time. Maybe it’s because I have a terrible memory, or the way pictures help me see what’s in front of me.

I’m married to my best friend, and we've made a lovely life together in our old Atlanta bungalow. We have two really cool kids who are growing up too quickly, plus a Georgia brown dog who thinks she's a human in a dog costume.

​I'm an introvert who is not enjoying talking about herself, but here goes some more:

Community and social justice are essential goals that I have, and interesting light makes my heart sing. Stories make me happy, whether that’s in books, movies or podcasts. I think that’s also why I love baseball so much.

I’ve been documenting stories of childhood and parenthood for families since 2010, with the guiding belief that every story deserves to be remembered authentically, and that you just can’t beat real life.

Family stories inspire me the most— Mothers. Fathers. Childhood. Connection. Chaos…I take the picture when I see aspects of family happening in interesting ways, or in ways that make me feel something. Interesting light is simply icing on the cake.

I hope to offer stress free photo sessions so that together we can make art out of your life. Even better if I get to work with you and your family over the years to tell your ongoing story.

Family laughing and tickling each other

My favorite pictures of my own childhood and now of my own children, have never been the staged portraits. It’s always been the photos that include my home, and the authentic (sometimes messy and sometimes weird) pieces of the real story that I cherish. That’s the meat of the coconut.

Family sitting on the front porch laughing
Mom playing basketball with her teenager

I’m a mom. I know that the struggle is real, and the days are long. But I also know that it passes you by way too fast. This moment is just a blip, and I should’ve gotten in the pictures more.

Woman with a camera in a mirror

I’m also a doula and birth photographer, and you can find out more about that over at www.thebirthstorycollective.com

“She is excellent at her craft and my children love her.”

– Jewel, Midtown