# Sam Penn

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{{Short description|American photographer}}
'''Sam Penn''' (born 1998) is an American photographer and a visual artist based in New York City.<ref>{{Cite web |last=AnOther |date=2024-10-09 |title=One Photographer’s Intimate Study of Relationships in New York |url=https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/15933/sam-penn-photographer-interview-bad-behaviour |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=AnOther |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Magazine |first=Cultured |date=2023-09-22 |title=Meet Sam Penn, the Photographer Behind a Zine That Captures New York's It Girls in Repose |url=https://www.culturedmag.com/article/2023/09/22/sam-penn-young-photographers/ |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=Cultured Mag |language=en-US}}</ref> Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in New York, such as New York Life Gallery and [OCDChinatown](/source/OCDChinatown), and in Paris at Balice Hertling.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Publication: Sam Penn: Some Girls |url=https://www.newyorklifegallery.com/publications/6-sam-penn-some-girls/ |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=New York Life Gallery |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-21 |title=Sam Penn Opens a Show at Galerie Balice Hertling and Rolls With the Fashion Scene in Paris |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/wet-paint-in-the-wild-sam-penn-opens-a-show-at-galerie-balice-hertling-and-rolls-with-the-fashion-scene-in-paris-2556575 |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=Artnet News |language=en-US}}</ref> Penn is represented by Cadence Image and currently serves as the [tour](/source/Concert_tour) photographer and documentarian for [Lorde](/source/Lorde) during her 2025 world tour.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Image |first=Cadence |title=Cadence Image |url=https://cadence-image.com/artists/sampenn |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=Cadence Image |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shafer |first=Ellise |date=2025-10-22 |title=Lorde on ‘Laying It All Bare’ on Her UltraSound Tour, Subverting the Concept of an Arena Show and Taping Her Chest on Stage: ‘It Empowers Me’ |url=https://variety.com/2025/music/news/lorde-ultrasound-tour-interview-subverting-arena-show-taping-chest-1236557615/ |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> Her work has appeared in ''[Cultured](/source/Cultured_(magazine))'', ''[Document Journal](/source/Document_Journal)'', ''[Artforum](/source/Artforum)'', among others.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Journal |first=Document |title=Poétique du Récit |url=https://www.documentjournal.com/2024/07/poetique-du-recit/ |access-date=2025-10-23 |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Penn was born in [Oklahoma City, Oklahoma](/source/Oklahoma_City), in 1998, and grew up in [Philadelphia, PA](/source/Philadelphia). At a young age she started photographing her younger siblings on disposable Kodak cameras and grew from there. 

== Career ==
Penn first gained attention through ''Some Girls'' (2023), a limited edition photobook from [Ethan James Green](/source/Ethan_James_Green)'s New York Life Gallery capturing close friends and lovers in moments of repose, tenderness, and explicit confrontation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hullander |first=Megan |title=Sam Penn’s ‘Some Girls’ is made of intimate odes to womanhood |url=https://www.documentjournal.com/2023/06/sam-penns-some-girls-is-made-of-intimate-odes-to-womanhood/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-10-23 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Falb |first=Sam |date=2024-09-06 |title=Ethan James Green Had a Lot to Celebrate This Week! A Vogue Cover and New Exhibition/Book “Bombshell” |url=https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/ethan-james-green-bombshell-opening-2024 |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}}</ref> The book was released alongside her inclusion in a group show, titled ''It's Personal'' with artists [Ser Serpas](/source/Ser_Serpas) and [Nash Glynn](/source/Nash_Glynn). 

Her debut solo exhibition, ''Bad Behavior'', named after the [Mary Gaitskill](/source/Mary_Gaitskill) novel, opened at Galerie Balice Hertling in Paris in 2024, presenting [large-format prints](/source/Wide-format_printer) that collapse distinctions between [landscape](/source/Landscape_art), [body](/source/Body_art), and [psychological space](/source/Psychological_safety).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nevins |first=Jake |date=2024-10-01 |title="Bring Back Spanking": A Five-Minute Cig With Photographer Sam Penn |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/a-five-minute-cig-with-photographer-sam-penn |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=Interview Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>  Photographs from this show included locations like the Lower East Side, Fire Island, and upstate New York.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nevins |first=Jake |date=2023-02-28 |title=Three Girls Take One Gallery in a Sensual Show at OCDChinatown |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/three-girls-take-one-gallery-in-a-sensual-group-show-at-ocdchinatown |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=Interview Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

Penn's work has been show in exhibitions at [James Fuentes](/source/James_Fuentes), OCDChinatown, and New York Life Gallery. Of Penn, the art critic and American songwriter, [Johanna Fateman](/source/Johanna_Fateman), wrote in ''[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)'', "A row of photographs by Sam Penn offers a window onto a glam coterie in the tradition of [Nan Goldin](/source/Nan_Goldin)."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nast |first=Condé |title=“It’s Personal” |url=https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/art/its-personal-ocd |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=The New Yorker |language=en-US}}</ref> 

In 2025 she was profiled by ''[Dazed](/source/Dazed)'', ''Cultured'', and ''[Another Magazine](/source/Another_Magazine).''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-11 |title=Sam Penn “Bad Behavior” at Balice Hertling, Paris — Mousse Magazine and Publishing |url=https://www.moussemagazine.it/magazine/sam-penn-balice-hertling-paris-2024 |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=www.moussemagazine.it |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=AnOther |date=2024-10-09 |title=One Photographer’s Intimate Study of Relationships in New York |url=https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/15933/sam-penn-photographer-interview-bad-behaviour |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=AnOther |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dazed |title=Sam Penn Bad Behaviour |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/gallery/34388/2/sam-penn-bad-behaviour |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=Dazed |language=en}}</ref>

Penn joined Lorde's U.S. and [European](/source/European_Union) tour as the official photographer for the ''[Virgin](/source/Virgin_(Lorde_album))'' album cycle.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Talon |first=The Patriot |date=2025-09-23 |title=REVIEW: Lorde Illuminates On Opening Night of “The Ultrasound Tour” – The Patriot Talon |url=https://thepatriottalon.com/review-lorde-illuminates-on-opening-night-of-the-ultrasound-tour/ |access-date=2025-10-23 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sarlin |first=Annie |last2=Heilmann |first2=Bryce |date=2025-10-09 |title=Lorde has risen: ‘Ultrasound Tour’ creates community at TD Garden |url=https://berkeleybeacon.com/lorde-has-risen-ultrasound-tour-creates-community-at-td-garden/ |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=The Berkeley Beacon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Maass |first=Brian |date=2025-09-28 |title=A Triumphant Return: Lorde Opens Ultrasound Tour in Austin |url=https://texaslifestylemag.com/entertainment/lorde/ |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=TLM |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Marvin {{!}} A PUNK ROCK MESSIANIC VISION FOR THE FUTURE {{!}} Lorde Strips Herself Down On Ultrasound Tour |url=https://marvin.la/lorde-strips-herself-down-on-ultrasound-tour/ |access-date=2025-10-23 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In November of 2025, ''[New York](/source/New_York_(magazine))'' magazine included Penn's first solo New York City show, ''Max'', at New York Life Gallery on their Approval Matrix in their highbrow meets brilliant category.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-31 |title=The Approval Matrix: Carly Rae’s Wedding Bells, Lily Allen’s Divorce Knells |url=https://nymag.com/article/the-approval-matrix-week-of-november-3-2025.html |access-date=2025-11-04 |website=New York Magazine |language=en}}</ref> The series of large-scale photographs documented her relationship with writer Max Battle, accompanied by a book of the images along with his text.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Eli |first=Adam |date=2025-11-07 |title=Sam Penn and Max Battle Recap a Year of Sexual Obsession Through the Lens of Raw, Horny Photoshoots |url=https://www.culturedmag.com/article/2025/11/07/art-sam-penn-max-battle-photography-book/ |access-date=2025-11-08 |website=Cultured Mag |language=en-US}}</ref> The project explores intimacy, collaboration, and intertwined authorship as the two traverse New York City, Fire Island, Paris, and [Basel](/source/Basel) flying, hiking, eating, shaving, or lying in bed<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dazed |date=2025-11-07 |title=Sam Penn captures the mutual intimacy of sex and connection |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/69042/1/sam-penn-max-exhibition-intimacy-sex-new-york-life-gallery |access-date=2025-11-08 |website=Dazed |language=en}}</ref> The show blurs boundaries between artist and subject while examining power dynamics in representation and the ethical complexity of portraiture.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Black |first=Chris |date=2025-11-06 |title=Photographer Sam Penn Has Conquered High Fashion and Touring With Lorde. Now, She’s Freeze-Framing Intimacy. |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/story/photographer-sam-penn |access-date=2025-11-08 |website=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Holgate |first=Mark |date=2025-11-06 |title=Sam Penn and Max Battle’s New Exhibition Offers an Intimate Look at Love |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/sam-penn-max-battle-exhibition |access-date=2025-11-08 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}}</ref> 

== Exhibitions ==
'''Solo exhibitions'''

* ''Bad Behaviour'', Galerie Balice Hertling, Paris (2024)

'''Selected group exhibitions'''

* New York Life Gallery, New York (2024)
* OCD Chinatown, New York (2023–24)
* James Fuentes, New York (2025)

== Publications ==

* ''Some Girls'' (2023)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Publication: Sam Penn: Some Girls |url=https://www.newyorklifegallery.com/publications/6-sam-penn-some-girls/ |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=New York Life Gallery |language=en}}</ref>
* ''Bad Behavior'' (2004)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Publication: Sam Penn: Bad Behavior |url=https://www.newyorklifegallery.com/publications/15-sam-penn-bad-behavior/ |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=New York Life Gallery |language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
<references />

Category:1998 births
Category:Living people
Category:American photographers
Category:Artists from Pennsylvania
Category:American women photographers
Category:21st-century American women artists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sam Penn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Penn) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Penn?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.