Faculty Work: Photography by Gary Samson | New England College
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Faculty Work: Photography by Gary Samson

October 14, 2022

The photographs of Gary Samson, Professor Emeritus of Photography, are featured in a new book, Creole Soul: Zydeco Lives, published by University Press of Mississippi.

Written by Burt Feintuch, Creole Soul: Zydeco Lives provides, what University Press of Mississippi describes as, “an exquisitely photographed volume of interviews with contemporary zydeco musicians. This book celebrates a musical world full of passion, energy, cowboy hats and boots, banging bass, horse trailers, joy, and dazzling dance moves. Author Burt Feintuch captures an important American music in the process of significant—and sometimes controversial—change.”

Samson is a fine art photographer and photo educator who has received numerous awards, grants, and fellowships for his work during the past 40 years. He is currently serving as the Artist Laureate of New Hampshire after retiring as the Chair of the Photography Department at the Institute of Art and Design at NEC. He has taught photography courses and workshops regionally and internationally since 1981. His career in photography started in 1971 at the University of New Hampshire, where he served as the University Filmmaker and Manager of Photography.

He traces his appreciation for and love of photography to a summer job he had in 1968 at the Manchester Historic Association.

Samson’s work can also be found in Talking New Orleans Music: Crescent City Musicians Talk about Their Lives, Their Music, and Their City, published by University Press of Mississippi.

Read more about and purchase Creole Soul: Zydeco Lives.

Read more about Gary Samson and view his work.

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