Biography
Born 1982 in Pittsburgh, PA
Lives and works in Oakland, CA
Education
2008
MFA, Yale University, New Haven, CT
2004
BFA, New York University, New York, NY
Exhibitions
2020
La Boîte-en-Valise, a project by Office Baroque at la-boite-en-valise.com
Masculinities: Liberation Through Photography, Barbican Art Gallery, London, UK
Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany, 2020-21
Dorothea Lange: Words and Pictures, Museum of Modern Art, NY
Magnetic West, Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA
2019
Character Study, Ratio 3, San Francisco, CA
The Second Body, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY
2018
The Daegu Biennial, curated by Ami Barak, Daegu, South Korea
Earache, organized by Jordan Stein, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Being: New Photography 2018, curated by Lucy Gallun, Museum of Modern Art, New York
2017
Sam Contis / Matrix 266, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
Deep Springs, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY
Foam, Beaconsfield Vauxhall, London, UK
2016
Indivisible, Fotomuseum Antwerp, Belgium
Unseen Photography Festival, Amsterdam, NL
Fifteen Years, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
In the Cut, Gallery Luisotti, Los Angeles, CA
Flames on the Side of My Face, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY
Publications
2017
Deep Springs, published by MACK
2016
Foam Magazine, by Duncan Wooldridge, Issue #45
2014
Blind Spot, Issue 48, edited by Doug Aitken, Fall
Bibliography
2020
Ahmed, Fatima, ‘I found a Dorothea Lange who was new to me’ – an interview with Sam Contis,
Apollo Magazine, August 21, 2020
Loos, Ted, Way Out West, Cultured Magazine, April-May 2020
Stuart Hughes, Holly The Art of Documentary Photography: Dorothea Lange Reconsidered,
Time.com, February 21, 2020
Sanderson, Sertan, Die Männlichkeit auf dem Prüfstand, DW, February 21, 2020
Hutton, Belle, Boys by Girls: Portrayals of Masculinity by Women Photographers, AnOther Mag,
February 21, 2020
Alleyne, Allyssia, What makes a man? Across generations, photographers have provided eclectic
answers, CNN.com, February 20, 2020
Ovenden, Olivia, What Does Masculinity Mean Anymore Anyway?, Esquire, February 20, 2020
Thompson, Jo, The Barbican’s new photography show celebrates unfixed ideas of masculinity,
Dazed, February 20, 2020
Yeung, Peter, The Barbican’s New Show Proves Masculinity Doesn’t Always Have to Be Toxic,
Another Man, February 19, 2020
O’Hagan, Sean, Masculinities review: men laid bare from boardroom to battlefield, The Guardian,
17 Feb 2020
Murray Brown, Griselda, Up close and personal: the other side of Dorothea Lange,
Financial Times, February 14, 2020
Lubow, Arthur, Empathy and Artistry: Rediscovering Dorothea Lange, New York Times, February 13, 2020
Hutton, Belle, In Pictures: The Unflinching Photography of Dorothea Lange, AnOther Mag, February 10, 2020
Watling, Eve, Dorothea Lange: An alternative look at the photographer who humanised the Great
Depression, Independent UK, February 6, 2020
Florian, Federico, La mascolinità alla Barbican Art Gallery, Il Giornele dell’ Arte.com,
February 2020
Singer, Fanny, Inside the Unseen Archives of Dorothea Lange, Wall Street Journal, January 8, 2020
2018
Greenberger, Alex, MoMA’s Gripping ‘New Photography’ Goes Behind the Lens, ArtNews, March 22, 2018
Lubow, Arthur, What’s New in Photography? Humanism, MoMA Says, New York Times, March 9, 2018
2017
Cole, Teju, The Best Photo Books of 2017, New York Times, December 30, 2017
Schwabsky, Barry, Sam Contis, Artforum, September, 2017
Westin, Monica, Sam Contis, Artforum.com, June 18, 2017
Maddox, Amanda, Photographing the Body Electric, Aperture.com, June 17, 2017
McPhate, Mike, Scenes From an Unusual College in the High Desert, NewYorkTimes.com, June 8, 2017
Thackara, Tess, A Photographer Turns Her Lens on One of America’s Last All-Male Colleges, Arsty Editioral, May 11, 2017
Schuman, Aaron, Deep Springs by Sam Contis, FT Magazine, May 11, 2017
9 Art Events to Attend in New York City This Week, Artnews.com, May 8, 2017
Stewart, Ian. A, Higher Ed in the High Desert, San Francisco Magazine, May 2, 2017
2016
Weiss, Haley, Coffee Table Curator: April 2017, Interview Magazine, April 28, 2017 IMA, Vol. 18, 2016
Awards
2017
Nancy Graves Foundation Artist Grant
2016
Aaron Siskind Foundation Fellowship
Public Collections
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Carré d’Art–Musée d’art contemporain, Nîmes, France
KADIST, San Francisco, CA | Paris, France
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven