Bio: Born in Los Angeles in 1934, William Carter graduated from Stanford University in 1957. A talented writer and part-time jazz clarinetist, he was drawn to the practical and creative potential of photography. In 1961 he joined Harper & Row in New York as an assistant book editor.
Carter moved to Beirut in 1964 as a photographer-writer. His work was soon published in Life and elsewhere. In 1966 he moved to London and accepted freelance commissions for journalistic and commercial clients worldwide. In 1969 he returned to the San Francisco Bay Area to create a book of pictures and text, Ghost Towns of the West published in 1971. This was followed in 1975 by Middle West Country, another seedbed study of the American character. In 1991 Carter published a book on his old love, New Orleans jazz: Preservation Hall.

 

During these and ensuing years, Carter's photographic style took on a more personal and fine-art direction. Widely exhibited, his photographic prints of the nude are included in public and private collections throughout the U.S. and Europe. His new book, Illuminations, immediately drew rave responses on being introduced in Europe in late 1996.
Illuminations has been selected by the museum shops of the National Gallery (Washington DC), the Museum of Modern Art (New York), and ICP (New York) as well as quality booksellers worldwide.