More than meets the eye

By Felicia Menard
HippoPress.com

For the last 30 years, Gary Samson has used photography and film as a tool to help the people of New Hampshire understand the state’s rich history and culture.

“Photography is our visual diary,” Samson said.
Samson continually pushes his technical abilities in order to communicate with the viewer.

“I see photography as a beautiful blend of art and craft, science and aesthetic.” Samson said. “A photograph can be technically perfect, but have no content. So I ask myself, how can I push my creativity to show content? I must push my creativity.

“I’m using a new type of camera which creates a 12-inch by 20-inch negative. Using such a large negative results in prints of an extraordinarily high quality. There is a tremendous depth of field. But a sheet of film costs $9. That’s exorbitant! You can’t afford to waste film. I want to show spontaneity, but I can’t be spontaneous. I have to plan the shot,” Samson said.

Not only does Samson have an impressive resume as a leading photographer, teacher and artist, but he is a filmmaker with 10 films to his credit. At present, his mission as an artist is to highlight the social and cultural aspects of Latino life in Manchester.

Samson’s sensitivity to culture and ethnicity was developed at a very early age. Both his parents were French Canadian. His mother arrived from Quebec by way of Vermont in the late 1940s. His father worked at the Amoskeag Mill in Manchester. Both parents assimilated to the prevailing Manchester culture. He went to the McDonald grammar school in Manchester rather than St. Anne’s in order to better fit in the English-speaking community. The spelling of “Samson” is French, but the pronunciation is English.

Samson notes there is approximately 100 years of French community in Manchester. When he compares the Latino culture to the French-Canadian culture, Samson sees the Latino culture as a new culture adapting to the prevailing Manchester community just as the French community adapted 100 years ago. He sees richness yet to be explored in Latino culture. By focusing on the present struggles of the Latino population, he’s also exploring the struggles the French Canadian population faced years ago.

“I find it exciting to develop and work collaboratively. My next film is a collaborative effort between the Manchester Historical Association and the Latin American Center,” he said. The film documents the Latino population of Manchester. He’s already spent about a year and a half on the project and expects a completed version in 2004. The project has evolved from its original focus—the use of food in Latino celebration—to explore the role parties and celebrations play in Latino families. He looked at events like the coming-out party thrown for a girl’s 15th birthday in many Hispanic cultures.

“I love finding stories of this sort, editing, processing the film and developing the text to get the most impact into an exhibit,” Samson said. “I want to document important events as part of making a show more three-dimensional. I like to include pottery, stories and performance.”

One of Samson’s films tells the story of a famous murder mystery from 1873 on the Isles of Shoals. Prussian immigrant Louis Wagner was charged with murdering two female immigrants on the island. Samson recreated the story by panning stills and animating them. He dramatized folk songs using actors to recreate the story.

When he’s not working on collaborative efforts or creating film, Samson teaches photography at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. He likens his technique to finding the optimum exposure in order to find the “details in the shadows.” This method equates to the correct development timing.

“I like to get the tools just right,” he said. “I like to manipulate the materials.”

A dedicated teacher, Samson spends a couple of hours a day in the photo labs at the Institute helping other photography teachers’ students.

“All the students at the Institute are my children. I’ve been full-time since January of 2001, so I need to serve students outside of their class time,” Samson said.

Felicia Menard can be reached at hippo@hippopress.com