Matthew Arthur Williams was born in London, England to Jamaican parents in 1989, studying Photography at Manchester Metropolitan University from 2009–12. His art explores the intersections of identity and history through the themes of memory and cultural heritage, and is deeply rooted in his Afro-Caribbean descent. Utilising both photography and film, Williams captures the nuances of diasporic experiences, focusing on the intricate relationship between personal narratives and broader socio-political contexts.
Artist and photographer Matthew Arthur Williams was born in London, England, in 1989 to Jamaican parents who had moved to the UK in the early 1960s to join his grandparents, who were already established in Stoke-on-Trent. Williams studied Photography at Manchester Metropolitan University from 2009 to 2012, subsequently working in arts administration jobs before moving to Glasgow.
Williams' artistic development is deeply rooted in collaboration. He often works closely with others, engaging in projects that explore themes such as visibility, care, love, family, memory, representation, and resistance. This collaborative approach involves conversations, interviews, and exchanges with individuals, contributing to the richness and depth of his work. Preferring analogue methods over digital, Williams uses black and white photography and 16mm film, valuing their traditional, hands-on nature. He has stated, ‘I find there is so much autonomy working with black and white film, and then printing those images. There is a constant connection with the work and the medium. Those who view it can feel that tactility and pick up on an artist’s intentions instantly’ (Mugan 2023).
As a collaborator with the Barbadian-Scottish multidisciplinary artist and curator, Alberta Whittle, Williams played key roles as a photographer and co-cinematographer in Between a Whisper and a Cry (2019) and RESET (2020), in addition to composing scores for the film Lagareh – The Last Born. In 2021 his works featured at Jupiter Artland and Johnson Terrace Gardens as part of an Edinburgh International Art Festival commission. In 2022, Williams was included in the exhibition AfroScots: Revisiting the Work of Black Artists in Scotland through New Collecting at Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA). This exhibition, addressing the predominantly white narrative of Scottish art history, showcased contributions of Black artists, including Aubrey Williams, Alberta Whittle, and Maud Sulter, to Scotland's cultural landscape.
Williams’s inaugural UK solo exhibition, Soon Come, explored the fluidity of time and intricacies of history. Named after a West Indian phrase indicating an unspecified return, the show explored the interconnected histories of Clarendon, Jamaica — his mother's birthplace — and Stoke-on-Trent in the English Midlands, through a two-channel film, sound installation, and various photographs. Using public archives and personal family records, including interviews and documentary footage, Williams wove ancestral stories with broader narratives such as Stoke's industrial decline and the West Indian migration to Britain after the Second World War. Williams described his use of old negatives as a form of ‘resurrection, an attempt to breathe some fire back into the image (cited in Charman 2023). In 2023, he was part of Pictures of Us at Gathering, London, an exhibition featuring contemporary photography and film about tenderness and intimacy within diverse communities. Williams was awarded the 2023 Emerging Artist Residency at Cove Park, Argyll and Bute, focusing on memory within queer histories. His collaborations include ongoing work with Ajamu X, and his research has been supported by programs at CCA Glasgow, The Bothy Project, Hospitalfield, and LUX Scotland. William’s work is not currently represented in UK public collections.