Greg Williams on the art of the candid shot

The photographer discusses his journey from documenting war zones to capturing candid moments of some of the biggest celebs on the planet, plus why the best images often aren’t technically perfect

Greg Williams is one of those rare talents who has pretty much always known what they’re destined to do in life. In his case, he was six when a distant uncle from Canada – who happened to be a keen amateur photographer – came over to visit. “He had all sorts of zoom lenses and flash guns and three different cameras. I found all the kit amazing,” he says.

“Anyway, he went back to Canada and I never saw him again. But about three weeks after he left, I received a package and it was some crappy old 110 Instamatic camera that he didn’t need anymore. He sent it to me to encourage me to start photography, so that was the beginning of it. I shot as many pictures as we could afford film basically.”

Ana De Armas

Today, Williams is the man behind some of the most famous photos in the world and one of Hollywood’s most trusted insiders, renowned for his ability to capture candid moments of celebs in their natural habitats. He has shot portraits and short films of everyone from Cate Blanchett to Gary Oldman and Daniel Craig, worked on high-profile campaigns for Chanel and Omega, and is the long-running official photographer of the Baftas.