Sylvia Sampson

Sylvia Sampson, a retired nurse, discovered the alternative photographic process at PrairieView School of Photograph in Winnipeg MB and fell in love.
From: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Shows: Chlorophylls, Photograms and Pinholes.

Sylvia Sampson is a retired nurse, mom, tree lover and photographer. She discovered the alternative photographic process at PrairieView School of Photography in Winnipeg MB and fell in love with the art form. Her works include photograms, chemigrams, pinhole images and more recent chlorophyll prints.

Making long exposure photos with her pinhole camera in the woods is like heaven on earth for her. Sylvia Sampson loses herself in the moment listening to the wind, the birds and the water as she counts the minutes of the exposure time. The unpredictable is what excites her. She accepts what is out of her control and embraces the moment.

Sylvia Sampson’s chemigrams and photograms are reflections of her child-like wonder. Her ideas are sparked by objects that she sees daily around the house and her fascination with how light reflects from different surfaces and transforms a piece of photo paper into beautiful creations. The added colour through digital means transforms the negatives into a world of wonder open to the viewer’s interpretation.

To help preserve our environment she recently started getting interested in chlorophyll prints. No developers are needed just the sun! Mother nature’s greatest secret. She has an overabundance of host plants in her backyard and she plans to use them to show others the beautiful magic of nature. She believes we can all reinvent our ways to preserve our environment.

As an Artist, Sylvia Sampson hopes to encourage others to be creative, especially children. Even though she is no longer a nurse, she still has the desire to help those who have lost hope, purpose or direction in life through art. This is her ultimate goal as an artist.

“Art is undervalued in public schools, but it played such an important role in my life. Art is healing.”

To children, everything is exciting, new, and full of magic. Children are not afraid to let their imagination go. They do things just because; like sitting in the sun on green grass and letting their mind wander. Children do not care what others think so they will paint their dog purple. As we grow older free-thinking fades and we lose that special part of us. Being scared of what others may think limits our creativity and imagination. So, jump in a puddle, roll down the hill, take 10 minutes out of your busy day and sit in the sunshine and let your mind wander. We have much to learn from children.

Contact Sylvia Sampson

• Email: sylviasampson (at) magictreephotography.ca
• Website