President’s Message, October, 2021

After a duration of many months, I am very excited to update you on the work and progress of the New Hampshire Society of Photographic Artists. Foremost is the publication of the 288 page book, New Hampshire Now: A Photographic Diary of the Granite State and the opening around the state of eight regional exhibitions featuring the work of 46 of our members. The book and exhibits were launched on October 1, 2021, and most of the shows will be up through December, if not longer. 

1700 hundred copies of the book were published by the New Hampshire Historical Society and it’s anticipated that the book will be sold out before the Christmas holidays. The generosity of the New Hampshire Mutual Bancorp, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, Puritan Press and Monadnock Paper made the book possible. 

Red River Paper provided 1000 feet of paper to create 400 prints for the eight exhibitions. I took on the task of making the prints (18x24 inches and some larger) using an Epson printer donated to the Kimball Jenkins School of Art by member David Speltz. It took two months to produce the prints that were then delivered to the venues around the state for installation. 

The project has been very well received by the public and featured in articles in the Union Leader, New Hampshire Magazine, Business NH Magazine, Hippo Press, and in a video segment on WMUR’s  NH Chronicle. 

A special thanks go out to the editorial staff of the book, Bev Conway, Dan Gingras, Effie Malley and Michael Sterling as well as all the photographers who contributed photographs for use in the project! This was an extraordinary volunteer effort that we can all be proud of. 

Establishing the archive of our photography for the project at the NHHS is the next big task we face, and we will need your help to make sure we have all the information we need to document the contents of the collection. We need to make this work as easy as possible for Dan Gingras to facilitate. 

Finally, the NHSPA has taken a big step forward with the establishment of a permanent studio space at the Kimball Jenkins School of Art in Concord, NH. This new facility will allow members to print high-quality photographic images on large format Epson printers or use the studio lighting equipment to create their art. The KJ campus is available for location shoots too and we look forward to more exhibitions of our members work in the Carriage House Gallery. We have also just begun periodic gatherings at KJ where members can share work and discuss photography in a welcoming, informal setting. 

I want to thank the NHSPA board for this important step in the growth of the organization in creating a fine art photography community in New Hampshire.

Gary Samson
President, NHSPA