ABOUT SAM

CONTACT

Sam is based in Los Angeles, CA

Connect directly: sam@samcomen.com

(310) 809-4247


BIOGRAPHY

“Comen is best known for his environmental portrait essays that feature evocative California locales. As a documentary photographer, he has long focused on themes of American identity, community-building, immigration, democracy, and social justice.” —Taína Caragol, National Portrait Gallery, Curator of Painting and Sculpture and Latino Art and History.

His work has twice been exhibited at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, and is commissioned by brands and magazines internationally.

As a native Californian, Sam has used his home state as a muse throughout his career, and often looks to the places that define us for inspiration. He notably brought this site-specific approach to the series Lost Hills, acquired by The Library of Congress in 2019 and LACMA (The Los Angeles County Museum of Art) in 2021.

His newest body of work, produced during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, is The Longest Shift, a series of still photographs, motion portraits, and intimate first-person interviews with the essential workers who’ve remained on the front lines of pandemic epicenter Los Angeles. It was exhibited May through August 2022 at the Lancaster, CA Museum of Art and History (MOAH.)

Most recently in September 2022, his Working America project launched a five year national tour with Exhibits USA, which will bring the printed and video work to cultural institutions throughout the country.

Current exhibitions on tour featuring Comen’s work include include The Newest Americans, portraits of U.S. citizens immediately before and after taking the oath, produced in partnership with The California Museum in Sacramento, touring nationally through 2022; and Golden Hour: California Photography from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, curated by LACMA and touring four Southern CA venues in 2022.

VIDEOS ABOUT SAM & HIS WORK

EXHIBITIONS

Our Pico; solo exhibition, City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs, curator Naomi Okuyama, (2024)

Working America; solo touring exhibition, Exhibits USA/Mid-America Arts Alliance, director Kathy Dowell, touring nationally (2022-2027)

The Longest Shift; solo exhibition, Museum of Art & History (MOAH), director Andi Campognone, curator Robert Benitez, Lancaster, CA (2022)

Golden Hour: California Photography from LACMA; group exhibition, LACMA in partnership with Lancaster Museum of Art & History, Riverside Art Museum, Vincent Price Art Museum, and Cal State Northridge. Curator Eve Schillo (2022)

Working America; solo public art video exhibition, Downtown L.A.’s Grand Park, director Julia Diamond, Los Angeles, CA (2021)

The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today; 2nd Prize Winner, group exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, curator Taína Caragol, Washington, DC (2019) Nat’l exhibition tour through 2022.

The Newest Americans; solo exhibition, The California Museum, curator Amanda Meeker, Sacramento, CA (2018.) Nat’l exhibition tour through late 2021.

The Sweat of Their Face: Portraying American Workers; group exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, curator Dorothy Moss, Washington, DC (2018)

The Future of LA;  group exhibition, Grand Park, curator Maren Levinson, Los Angeles, CA (2018)

Portraits of Compassion, three artist show, presented by California Community Foundation, Plaza De Cultura y Artes, Los Angeles, CA (2016)

Both Sides of Sunset: Photographing LA, group exhibition, Kopeikin Galley, Culver City, CA (2015)

Manifest Justice, group show, organized by Yosi Sergant, presented by Amnesty Int'l, Los Angeles, CA (2015)

The Valley/El Valle, group show, San Francisco City Hall, curator Ann Jastrab, presented by the San Francisco Arts Commission (2014)

Kern County at a Distance, three artist show, Bakersfield Museum of Art, curator Vikki Cruz (2014)

Passing Through, L.A. Union Station 75th Anniversary, public lightbox installation, commissioned by L.A. County MTA (2014)

Critical Mass, group show, Corden|Potts Gallery, curator Jessica Johnston of George Eastman House, San Francisco, CA (2013)

Central Avenue: A Community Album, solo show, Central Avenue Jazz Festival, Los Angeles, CA (2012)

28 at 28, solo exhibition, NextSpace LA, Culver City, CA (2011)

A Place in the Sun, group show, Month of Photo LA, curator Audrey Landreth, Los Angeles, CA (2011)

SELECTED PRESS

Morgan Baskin, “‘The Longest Shift’ Highlights Essential Workers Who Kept Los Angeles Running” Fast Company (2022)

Eline Gordts, “The Longest Shift: portraits of the people holding Los Angeles together.” The Guardian (2021)

Eve Schillo, “Happy Days & Golden Hours are Here Again” LACMA Unframed (2021)

“Rites Disrupted: LA’s Class of 2020 Graduates In A Tumultuous Time” KPCC/LAist (2021)

WRCO Radio Morning Show, “The Newest Americans” WRCO.com (2021)

Kate Bubacz, “Here’s What The Working Class Thinks About America” BuzzFeedNews.com (2020)

Andrea Michelson, “This Year’s Outwin Winners Challenge the Norms of Portraiture” SmithsonianMag.com (2019)

Hayley Fox, “The Newest Americans Highlights Immigrant Stories in the Age of Trump” GoodMagazine.com (2018)

Michelle Miller, “The Sweat of Their Face: Portraits of workers” CBS Sunday Morning (2018)

Shana Nys Dambrot, “The Newest Americans” Vice.com (2017)

Carolina A. Miranda, “Can you capture LA’s complexity in a photo book?” Los Angeles Times (2015)

Mark Sitko, “Manifest: Justice Examines Social Inequality Through Art” Los Angeles Magazine (2015)

“Valley Edition,” live radio interview with Joe Moore on KVPR, Central California NPR (2014)

Sam Whiting, “Newly found '75 Cesar Chavez photo highlights heartland show,” SF Gate (2014)

Camille Gavin, ”Of Luck and Lost Hills at BMoA,” The Bakersfield Californian (2014)

Miranda Whitworth, “Found in Lost Hills: Struggle, but Also Joy,” The Bakersfield Californian (2013)

Cindy Y. Rodriguez, “Undocumented Youth: A Dream Deferred,” CNN Photos (2013)

Adam McCauley, “Bridging Eras: Photographer Sam Comen’s…Lost Hills” TIME’s LightBox (2013)

Shana Nys Dambrot, “Skid Row and Central Avenue’s Culture-Based Activism,” KCET Artbound (2012)

Jeff Zuschlag, “Photographer of the Week,” Resource Magazine(2012)

Veronica Villafañe, “Photo Retrospective…Central Avenue,” USC Annenberg Intersections South LA(2012)

Caitlin Shamberg, “Photographs: Central Avenue 1940s to Present,” KCRW Which Way LA?  (2012)

James Brasuell, “Exploring Central-Adams from 1940s to Today,” Curbed LA(2012)

José Martinez, “Weeklong photo exhibition to shine spotlight on Central Avenue,” KPCC On Central(2012)

Aline Smithson, “Sam Comen,” Lenscratch (2011)

Bryan Formhals, “28 at 28: An Ongoing Annual Portrait Series,” La Pura Vida (2011)

SELECTED CLIENTS

72andSunny, Airbnb, AOL Music, Billboard, Businessweek, Canon, Comcast, COMPLEX, DETAILS, Distro, Dreamworks, Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, Fast Company, Fortune, Garnier, Glamour, GREY, Hewlett-Packard, Huffington, Inc., K Swiss, Latina Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine, Los Angeles Department of Transportation, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, MTV, Maxim, Men's Health, Money, Newsweek, Nylon, Oakley, Paramount Pictures, People, Proctor & Gamble, Psychology Today, Publicis North America, Quick + Simple, Rolling Stone, TIME, TV Land, TeamOne, The Hollywood Reporter, The New Republic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, TruTV, Variety, VICE, WIRED.