Tom Williams has been covering Washington for Roll Call since 2000 and is an award-winning photographer. Since he started at Roll Call, he has covered a number of major stories, including races for the White House and Senate seats, the Gulf Coast oil spill and national party conventions. He has been interested and involved in photography since he was a teenager and he used his friends and family, especially his grandfather, as his subjects to photograph. In the first installment of our series, “Behind the Photo,” Williams discusses the challenges of shooting on Capitol Hill. “I like it because it’s a challenge,” Williams said.  

Williams talks about the restrictions that are placed on the photographers that make it challenging to do their jobs. Many places where “a lot of the action is,” Williams explains, are where photographs by media organizations are prohibited.  

Williams also talks about crafting his shots before he enters into a news situation. “I try not to push,” Williams said, when talking about how it can get crowded in media areas when photographers are fighting for the same news-making shot.  

Watch Tom Williams explain this unique Hill vocation and how he manages to capture a new moment every day.