Exhibit: Opening Reception – Harry Williams: Jones & Ellis Street Project

Opening Reception
Thursday, 7/3/2025
6:00 - 7:45
Art, Music & Recreation Center Exhibit Space - 4th Fl
Main Library

100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
United States

415-557-4400

Join us for the opening night of Harry Williams: Jones & Ellis, a striking street photography exhibition that centers the dignity, humanity and presence of Tenderloin residents through large-scale portraiture and street art.

This exhibit features work from Williams’ Jones & Ellis Street Project, a grassroots effort documenting the lives of people in one of San Francisco’s most misunderstood neighborhoods. Through intimate black-and-white photographs Williams invites us to look closer, question our assumptions and see our neighbors with deeper empathy.

Be sure to check out the wheatpaste installation on Fulton Plaza, near Hyde Street.

Presented as part of SF First Thursday Art Walk.

Williams is a San Francisco-based photographer and visual designer whose work documents overlooked communities with deep empathy and respect. Originally from West Jefferson, Ohio, Williams studied photography at The Ohio State University before traveling extensively through Southeast Asia, where he refined his immersive street portraiture style. He is known for his long-term photo essay on the Black Hmong Hill Tribe in Vietnam and, more recently, for his ongoing Jones & Ellis Street Project—a public, open-air gallery in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District that honors the lives of local residents through intimate, wheatpasted black-and-white portraits.

Williams' work has been shown at Bolinas Museum, San Francisco City Hall, and the Commonwealth Club, among others. His self-published monograph, Eye See You, brings together years of street photography. Grounded in trust and connection, his images amplify voices on the margins while challenging viewers to confront their own assumptions.

Connect: 

Harry Williams - Website | Harry Williams - Instagram 
 

In the Press

In Portraits of Tenderloin Residents, a Delicate Balance of Art and Hardship  by Pendarvis Harshaw, KQED

A photographer documents life on a tough Tenderloin corner with dignity  by Dorothy O’Donnell, 48 Hills


 

 

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This program is sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

Attending Programs

All programs are drop-in (no registration necessary) unless otherwise noted. All SFPL locations are wheelchair accessible. For accommodations (such as ASL), call (415) 557-4557 or contact accessibility@sfpl.org. Requesting at least 3 business days in advance will help ensure availability.

This program will be conducted in English unless otherwise noted.

Notice: This event may be filmed or photographed. By participating in this event, you consent to have your likeness used for the Library’s archival purposes and promotional materials. If you do not want to be photographed, please inform a staff person or the photographer. A sticker will be provided to help identify you so that we can avoid capturing your image.

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The views and opinions expressed in programs presented by groups unaffiliated with SFPL do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SFPL or the City.