A native of New Hampshire, Gary Samson is the seventh Artist Laureate of New Hampshire and has been awarded numerous grants, fellowships and honors for his photography and film work over the past five decades. During his tenure as filmmaker at the University of New Hampshire, he made a series of documentary films on the history and culture of NH that were presented both in schools and on public television over a twenty year period.

Mr. Samson served as the chair of the photography department and taught a wide range of courses at the New Hampshire Institute of Art for thirty-five years. Upon his retirement in 2017, he was appointed Professor Emeritus of Photography. His fine art photographs have been exhibited across the US, and in Canada and Europe and his work is included in the permanent collections of the Currier Museum of Art, the University of New Hampshire and the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, as well as many private collections.