Through Lotte’s Lens: An Evening with Gary Samson
Friday, June 27, 2025 – 6pm
@ VCP, 10 Green Street, Brattleboro, VT
Free & open to the public!
Join us for a special evening with celebrated NH photographer and educator Gary Samson as he reflects on the life and legacy of Lotte Jacobi, one of the 20th century’s most iconic portrait photographers. Drawing from his personal relationship with Jacobi and his years spent cataloging her photographic archive, Gary will share rare insights, stories, and images that illuminate her remarkable career—from Berlin to New York to New Hampshire. This public talk accompanies VCP’s major exhibition of Lotte Jacobi’s work, on view through June 29th.
About Gary Samson:
Gary Samson is a celebrated fine art photographer, educator, and New Hampshire’s Artist Laureate, known for a career spanning over four decades. Formerly Chair of the Photography Department at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, he has taught and exhibited widely, with work in major collections including the Currier Museum of Art and the National Archives. He has produced acclaimed documentary films on New Hampshire’s cultural history, worked internationally on photographic assignments, and spent years cataloging the archive of renowned photographer Lotte Jacobi. Samson’s photography and films consistently explore the intersection of history, place, and identity.
About Lotte Jacobi:
Lotte Jacobi (1896–1990) was a German-American photographer whose work is renowned for its emotional depth and authenticity. Born in West Prussia and trained in photography in Munich, she emigrated to New York City in 1935 to escape Nazi persecution. Her portrait subjects included figures such as Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Marc Chagall, yet she also turned her lens toward lesser-known artists, performers, and experimental abstract forms she called “Photogenics.” Later in life, Jacobi settled in Deering, New Hampshire, where she remained active in the arts and continued to produce work well into her 80s. Her legacy lives on through the many archives, exhibitions, and personal stories she left behind.