Savannah Sam is a photographer and photo artist who focuses on the nature and history of the “Lowcountry” — the south coastal area of the United States — stretching from Charleston, South Carolina, through the Ace Basin and down through the “Golden Isles” to Cumberland Island, Georgia.

Savannah Sam Photography, LLC offers archival framed, giclee matted and canvas gallery wrapped prints of local and regional images.  His work can be found at select local retailers and at various regional art shows. 

Why coastal Georgia?  This part of the country reminds Sam of the eastern shore, of his native state of Maryland.  This area is rich with artistic photo opportunities provided by the many wonderful locations in the Ace Basin, Low Country, and among the various bluffs, hammocks and fish camps dotting the coastline of South Carolina and Georgia. The classical southern charm of the southern coastal United States provides a wide palette of opportunities to express “A Unique Vision of the Coastal Lifestyle.”

As a very young boy in the early 60s, he was greatly influenced by an uncle who had a passion for photography. He was later enrolled in an art school which broadened his interest in oils and watercolors. This left such an impression with him when he was a young man that he wanted to continue to study art as an adult. However during that time it was frowned upon to suggest that art was a viable means to make a living.  Artists were considered beyond the social mainstream.  Therefore, he was encouraged to take the conventional and more acceptable route towards achieving a Liberal Arts Degree and eventually became an aerospace engineer.  Until about eight years ago the “dream” was put on-hold.  This is when the seeds of Savannah Sam Photography began to grow.  The character of Savannah Sam was created to personify, through photography & photo-art, an“island-like state-of-mind,” whose images reach into the soul, and transport us to the beach of our dreams!

Now, a lifetime of technical discipline blends with a creative passion, to create a unique photographic and artistic style.  He has always considered himself to be an artist first and a photographer second, using the photograph as a foundation for his creative expression. Embracing a digital style of photography, he first captures the shot and then submits the image to a limited and very specific post processing sequence that best expresses the mood of the composition.  He is constantly experimenting with new digital and light applications that allow him to develop his own style of “technical creativity blended with coastal calm.”

Savannah Sam’s work has been featured in local publications and displayed at various local galleries including the Horton Gallery located on the Southeast Georgia Health System (Brunswick) Campus, at the Atrium Gallery of the Merrill Lynch Building, located at The Landings in Savannah, at the Old Jail Art Center in Darien, and at the Glynn Visual Arts Main Gallery located at 106 Island Drive on St. Simons Island.

Savannah Sam Photography was proud to have been selected as Georgia’s photographic entry for the “Most Beautiful Spot in Every U.S.State” on www.PUREWOW.com with its image entitled “Wild Horse on Cumberland Island”.

Savannah Sam’s work was featured again on an internet site, this time for Georgia’s Most Abandoned Places at: http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/…/ga-abandoned-places-road-…/  Check out Sam’s haunting image of the the Dungeness Ruins, the ghostly remains of the one time home of the Carnegie Family on Cumberland Island.

In the Fall of 2018, Sam’s work was featured on the cover of High Tide magazine which included a feature article about this local artist and his passion to express his experiences and emotions through photography and photo-art .

Later in 2018, Savannah Sam had two of his works, “Darien Reflections” (pictured left) and “Footprints of Sapelo Island” (pictured right) selected to hang in the executive offices at the State Capitol as a part of the “Art of Georgia” exhibit. Approximately 100 entries were submitted from artists throughout the South Georgia region, and these two pieces were noted by the Georgia Council for the Arts as being an exceptional representation of contemporary Georgia art work. Pictured in the Governors’ Office are (L to R) Mrs. Deal, Leila Shrader, Steve Shrader (Savannah Sam), and Governor Deal.

In March of 2020, Savannah Sam was selected to provide the artwork to be hung in the prestigious Jekyll Island Clubs’ Eighty Ocean Complex.  Five large canvases from Savannah Sam’s collection now hang in the main reception/restaurant/bar area of the facility.

In the summer of 2023, Savannah Sam made a second trip to Atlanta and the State Capital Building to be recognized for his continuing work in the development of photo-art.  Sam and his wife Leila were received by Governor and Mrs. Kemp as they received two of Sam’s pieces, “The Garden Gate” (L) and “Winter Skies Over SSI” (R) to be displayed at the Capital for the next year. Pictured in the Governor’s Office are (L to R) Leila Shrader, Steve Shrader (Savannah Sam), and Governor  and Mrs Kemp.

Most recently, in October of 2023 Savannah Sam was overwhelmed and surprised with the receipt of the “Mayor’s Award” at the 50th Annual Shrimp Festival in beautiful Gulf Shores, Alabama for his work entitled “Their Chariots Await”, a piece dedicated to the hard work put forth by our dedicated fishing and shrimping crews.  The piece is described as follows ” Like modern gladiators, these proud warriors of the coastal waterways anxiously await their captains and crews to join battle against the most daunting of nature’s elements.”  The artwork now hangs in the Mayor’s office.

Rounding out a busy 2023, Sam was one of several artists featured in the Youtube podcast “All Things Savannah” (episode 4), highlighting the Plant Riverside Christmas Market.

(Click on the image to the right to see and hear the interview)

In October of 2021, Savannah Sam was interviewed by Kathryn Mademann on location at his booth by WHHI-TV for the 65th Beaufort Water Festival, highlighting the diversity of his work and medium.

(Click on the image to the right to see and hear the interview)

During the month of October 2023, Sam was featured in an interview with WTOC-11, The Southeast News Leader  from his studio in beautiful Shellman Bluff, on behalf of the 24th Great Ogeechee Seafood Festival held at Richmond Hills’ J.F. Gregory Park.2023 Great Ogeechee Seafood Festival.

(Click on the image to the right to see and hear the interview)

The “face” of Savannah Sam Photography is a “rescue” cat named Mississippi Wink. In May of 2004 he was plucked from the middle of a four-lane highway in the state of Mississippi when he was just three weeks old. He had a lazy eye that winked with regularity and hence the name. We are not sure who was actually “rescued” that day in Mississippi, but he was always a constant source of comfort, love and devotion to our family for many years.  Sadly, our Wink passed in December of 2021. Yet even to this day he reminds us of what is truly important and beautiful in our lives, and that we should not allow the little things to slip by without notice….and from that,…. the mission statement and direction of Savannah Sam Photography was born! 

SAVANNAH SAM PHOTOGRAPHY IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK ® WITH THE USPTO. ALL PHOTOGRAPHS APPEARING ON THIS OR ANY OTHER SITE, OR ANY IMAGES CONTAINING THE WATERMARK “IMAGE BY SAVANNAH SAM” OR “IMAGE BY SAVANNAH SAM PHOTOGRAPHY” ARE THE PROPERTY OF SAVANNAH SAM PHOTOGRAPHY, LLC AND ARE PROTECTED BY U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. THEY ARE NOT TO BE COPIED, DUPLICATED, DISTRIBUTED, REPUBLISHED, DISPLAYED, POSTED, EMAILED, DOWNLOADED, REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, TOTALLY OR IN PART, INCLUDING ELECTRONIC, MECHANICAL, PHOTOCOPYING, OR THE USE OF DIGITAL DUPLICATION/COPYING SOFTWARE VIA SCREEN SHOTS AND SCREEN SAVERS, IN ANY MANNER WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED WRITTEN CONSENT OF SAVANNAH SAM PHOTOGRAPHY, LLC. © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.