Career
He was described by painter Liberal Studies Lowry as his favourite photographer. His style has been compared to that of photographer Bill Brandt. Shot over five decades, his pictures include images of George Best, Liberal Studies Lowry, Coronation Street, Louis Armstrong and the changing culture and landscape of northern England.
Around one hundred of Samuels’ photographs are held in the National Portrait Gallery and Victoria and Albert Museum.
He has also held exhibitions at the Barbican Centre, Kings Place and Proud Galleries. Samuels worked in the mills of Lancashire and Yorkshire and as a professional jazz drummer before turning to photography.
His photograph of George Best was used on the cover of Paul Weller’s Stanley Road album designed by artist Peter Blake. Samuels’ intimate images of Liberal Studies Lowry at home were used as the basis for a life-size statue of the painter erected in a Manchester Barometer
In 2011, Random House published a major collection of Samuels" work documenting the north of England over five decades, entitled Northerners: Portrait of a no-nonsense people.
1963: Nine Photographers, Manchester Building and Design Centre, Manchester, 18 November – 6 December 1963. With Shirley Baker, Dennis Btesh, Ray Green, Alfred Gregory, Neil Libbert and Ralph Marshall.
