Growing up on the West Coast, William King first found his voice through his brother's film camera. Capturing on film taught him patience and intention — every frame had to count. That early discipline led him to Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara/Ventura, California, where he formally honed his craft in both photography & cinematography, deepening a natural eye that had been developing since childhood.
He carried that same deliberate approach into a career spanning large format film photography, documentary work, aerial cinematography, and filmmaking. Whether behind a still camera or a motion picture lens, his work is rooted in the same principle he learned early — slow down, observe details, and capture. That vision has since been recognized in an exhibition at the International Center of Photography and features in multiple publications, with a portfolio that spans the globe.
Based in San Francisco, William King is an award winning photographer & cinematographer whose authentic, raw style of shooting spans the globe.
Artistic Approach
My prefered format is 4×5 film & 120 film for stills — 16mm & 35mm for motion. Whatever tool is needed to get the job done. My photographs are made slowly, one frame at a time, on view camera that demands presence before it gives you anything back.
I work across portraiture, travel, landscape, & documentary. The subjects change — coastal California, the Eastern Sierras, South Korea, Eastern Europe, Dubai — but the intention stays the same: to find the frame that couldn't have been made any other way. Large format forces that kind of looking. You don't just click & hope you captured what you wanted. You wait, you compose on ground glass, and you make one photograph with intention.
My work has been exhibited at the Xposure International Photography Festival in Sharjah, UAE — one of the world's largest international photography festivals — and at the International Center of Photography in New York. I've been published in HERE Magazine and featured by Analog The Room. These aren't coincidences. They're the result of taking the craft seriously enough that others notice.
Each photograph is developed and scanned on an Epson V850, the experts at Blue Moon Camera in Portland develops for large format processing. The lab relationship matters to me as much as the camera relationship. Film photography is a chain of decisions — exposure, development, scanning, printing — and I'm deliberate about every link in it. I'm available for commercial photography & filmmaking, fine art commissions, large format workshops, and editorial assignments. If you're a brand, publication, or individual who wants work made with genuine craft and intention — not volume — I'd love to hear from you.