Sam Vale

Photographer

Sam Vale is an academic and internationally exhibited artist, interested in photography and its relationship with other media. Working predominantly with collections and archives, Vale aims to uncover narratives which might not be immediately apparent from the gathered objects, offering an alternate perspective to the collected material and the owners or curators that accrue it. Vale received a PhD from LCC for his practice-based research project exploring the private spaces of collectors. The films developed as part of this research have been exhibited widely, leading to a commission by the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge. Vale’s post-doctoral research continues to examine photography as research methodology, particularly exploring ideas of repetition. For example, his publication ‘Loop’ aimed to collect a complete journey of the circular bus route in Thanet, within a single pinhole photograph. The resulting images form a book, which has been selected to be archived in the National Art Collection at the V and A. His most recent project, ‘A Complete Typology of British Cherry Blossom’ is also an exercise in collecting, comparing 323 nearly identical flowers. These images are collected in a compendium and will be published by GOST and released in Spring next year. Although his work is varied, Vale is interested in photography as an investigative tool; using it to create artworks that combine narratives gained in relation to objects, memory, experience and longing.