Artist Bio
Sam Sanders (b. 1996) is a photographer who delights in experimentation by pushing back against the nature of standard photographic processes. Her work focuses on the exploration and expression of her identity as it relates to her practice and her environment. She gravitates towards the relationship between light and texture; the passage and perception of time and space; and the expression of self through varying visual takes on materiality and the ephemeral. Common threads that appear across her body of work include liminal spaces and surrealism; the merging of the ethereal and corporeal; and usage of the body as an object.
Sanders’ process is most often solitary - a journey of self-expression, conceptualization, and contemplation. Whether she’s armed with a medium format analog camera, or she begins with instant film or even digital photos, she always sets out in experimentation with alternative processes - like emulsion transfers, collaging, and hand-altering prints.
Notable artists that have inspired and influenced Sam’s body of work include photographers Francesca Woodman, Erin Graboski, and Brooke DiDonato; filmmakers David Lynch and Sky Hopinka; contemporary multidisciplinary artists like Joshua Ellingson and Susu Laroche; and even the bands Radiohead, Phantogram, Purity Ring, and Portishead. She also finds inspiration in the process of making her images and the moments of magic in mundanity.
Sam was an intern for The K.A. Artist Shop in Athens, GA, working as a Gallery Assistant focusing on curation and public relations while pursuing her BA in Interdisciplinary Art and Design with a focus in Photography at the Lamar Dodd School of Art (University of Georgia). Here, she participated in a group BFA Capstone Exhibition displaying her skills in analog photography, experimental processes, and constructed image through a series of alternative printing techniques. Following her graduation in December of 2023, she relocated to the southeastern region of Washington state, where she will continue developing her body of work through exploration and experimentation of photographic processes in an unfamiliar place - somewhere entirely different from anything she’s ever known. Sam is now the Administrative Coordinator for Allied Arts Association’s Gallery at the Park in Richland, WA, as well as the Partnership Consultant for Analog Forever Magazine.
Sam’s work has been selected for exhibit in several galleries and venues both local to eastern WA, as well as in Athens, GA, where she started her photographic career. These spaces include: Foundry Vineyards in Walla Walla, WA; Gallery at the Park in Richland, WA; Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation in Watkinsville, GA; the Athens Institute for Contemporary Art in Athens, GA; 5 & 10 in Athens, GA; and Hendershots in Athens, GA. She has work exhibited in an online publication for Analog Forever Magazine and received an honorable mention in an international art competition with Art-Collide. She was a featured artist in Suboart Magazine’s Print Issue Number 19, and most recently will be featured in Jaded Magazine’s upcoming Issue 02: “Objects of Desire” set to release spring 2025.