Williams was born on December 17, 1952, in Forest Hills, Queens.

[1] She attended the Yale University School of Art.

[3] In 2009 Duke University Press and the Center for Documentary Studies published a portfolio of Williams' platinum prints of women bathers entitled The Bathers.

[1][5] Williams taught at the School of Visual Arts.

[1] Her work is held in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art[6] and is archived at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University.