Gregory Mark Preston (born June 2, 1960) is an American photographer and writer, known for his

portraiture A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

of artists within their creative spaces.

Early life and education

Preston was first exposed to

comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

at age eight and was immediately drawn to the visuals. At age thirteen, Preston was reintroduced to comics by a friend and from that point on he was hooked. For college, Preston enrolled at the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

, for his first two years as a fine arts major, thinking he wanted to be an

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

, but really his desire was to be

comic book artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literary ...

. An instructor's advice that Preston seek out a more serious art school with commercial sensibilities, led him to enroll in a community college for

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

. Preston bought his first camera, an

Olympus OM-1 The Olympus OM-1 is a manually operated 35mm single-lens reflex (SLR) professional camera, part of the Olympus OM system. It was manufactured by Olympus Optical Co., Ltd., later Olympus Corporation, in Japan between 1972 and 1988. History The ...

, during that third year of studies, to shoot reference photos for his illustrations, and found his passion. After graduating with a degree in graphic design, Preston then moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to study photography at the

Art Center College of Design The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California. It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...

. In school, Preston began shooting with

Nikon (, ; ) is a Japanese optics and photographic equipment manufacturer. Nikon's products include cameras, camera lenses, binoculars, microscopes, ophthalmic lenses, measurement instruments, rifle scopes, spotting scopes, and equipment related to S ...

and

Hasselblad Victor Hasselblad AB is a Sweden, Swedish manufacturer of medium format (film), medium format cameras, photographic equipment and image scanners based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-for ...

cameras; and his favorite photographer influences were

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Vogue'' and '' Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and ...

Irving Penn Irving Penn (June 16, 1917October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' magazine, and independent advertising work for clie ...

, Albert Watson,

Mark Seliger Mark Alan Seliger (born May 23, 1959) is an American photographer noted for his portraiture. From 1992 to 2002, he was Chief Photographer for ''Rolling Stone'', during which time he shot over 188 covers for the magazine. From 2002 to 2012 he was u ...

, and Andrew Eccles. Preston met Sharon Sampsel at the Art Center, graduating in 1986, and the couple married the same year.

Career

Preston would go on to find work as commercial advertising photographer, specializing in hotel, resort, hospitality, weddings, portrait, editorial, food, and architectural photography. Preston and his wife opened their

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

-based photography studio, Sampsel Preston Photography, on April 1, 1988. Preston's love of the illustration and

fantasy art Fantastic art is a broad and loosely defined art genre. It is not restricted to a specific school of artists, geographical location or historical period. It can be characterised by subject matter—which portrays non-realistic, mystical, mythi ...

– and a suggestion from

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

Scott Shaw Scott Shaw (born 23 September 1958 in Los Angeles, California) is an American author, martial artist, musician, and filmmaker. Career Scott Shaw is an advanced martial artist. He has written a number of articles and books on the martial arts a ...

– brought about the idea for Preston's project of portraits of artists within their studios. The fifteen-year-long project brought together 101 cartoonists, comic book artists, and

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

s into an award-winning book of black-and-white portraits whose subjects include

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'', for which he created the character Elektra, and ...

Al Hirschfeld Albert Hirschfeld (June 21, 1903 – January 20, 2003) was an American caricaturist best known for his black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars. Early life and career Al Hirschfeld was born in 1903 in a two-story duplex apa ...

Joe Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator and cartoonist, best known as the co-founder of the animation studio Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian immigrants in New York City, Barbera joined Van Be ...

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (born Hymie Simon; October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books ...

Moebius Moebius, Mœbius, Möbius or Mobius may refer to: People * August Ferdinand Möbius (1790–1868), German mathematician and astronomer * Friedrich Möbius (art historian) (1928–2024), German art historian and architectural historian * Theodor ...

Walt Walt is a masculine given name, generally a short form of Walter (name), Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include: People Given name * Walt Anderson (American football) (born 1952), American football official * Walt ...

and

Louise Simonson Louise Simonson (née Mary Louise Alexander; born September 26, 1946) is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as ''Conan the Barbarian'', '' Power Pack'', ''X-Factor'', ''The New Mutan ...

. '' The Artist Within: Portraits of Cartoonists, Comic Book Artists, Animators and Others'' () was published by

Dark Horse Books Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

in 2007. After the success of his first book, Preston

crowdfund Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance, to fund projects "without standard financial ...

ed the companion book. Launched in March 2017, the

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign received funding of $30,624. ''The Artist Within: Behind the Lines: Book 2'' () was published in November 2017, and features both black-and-white and color portraits of more than one hundred artists, including

Drew Struzan Drew Struzan (; born March 18, 1947) is an American retired artist, illustrator and cover designer. He is known for his more than 150 movie posters, which include ''The Shawshank Redemption'', ''Blade Runner'', ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'', as ...

, Mark English, Keith Knight,

Syd Mead Sydney Jay Mead (July 18, 1933 – December 30, 2019) was an American industrial designer and Neo-futurism, neo-futurist concept artist. Initially known for his influential futuristic design work for industrial clients such as U.S. Steel, Phili ...

, Steranko,

Ron English Ron English (born June 6, 1959) is an American contemporary artist who explores brand imagery, street art, and advertising. Career English has produced images on the street, in museums, in movies, books and television. He coined the term POPag ...

Glen Keane Glen Keane (born April 13, 1954) is an American animator, director, author and illustrator. As a character animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios for 38 years (1974–2012), he worked on feature films including ''The Little Mermaid'', ''Beau ...

. Preston's portraits from ''The Artist Within'' project have been seen during the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

and the

Eisner Awards The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

. Preston's ''The Artist Within'' portrait of artist

Marie Severin Marie Severin (; August 21, 1929 – August 29, 2018) was an American comics artist and colorist best known for her work for Marvel Comics and the 1950s' EC Comics. She is an inductee of the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame and the Harvey Awards ...

was used by publications including ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', and ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'' to announce her death. In past years, Preston has also been the official portrait photographer at events, including Spectrum Fantastic Art Live in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

; and

CTN Animation Expo CTN Animation Expo is an annual three day animation convention that focuses on putting "the talent" center stage. It is held at the Marriott Convention Center in Burbank, California during what is officially proclaimed by the City of Burbank to be ...

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

; setting up a pop-up studio to take portraits of the guest artists in attendance. Preston has been an invited speaker at various venues. In 2011, he was a guest speaker the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers convention in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, to speak about being a hotel and resort photographer. He has also spoken about his ''The Artist Within'' project before audiences at the CTN Animation Expo,

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

, and at the Art Center College of Design.

Bibliography

* 2007 ''The Artist Within: Portraits of Cartoonists, Comic Book Artists, Animators and Others'' * 2017 ''The Artist Within: Behind the Lines: Book 2''

References

External links

* , website for Sampsel Preston Photography {{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, Greg Place of birth missing (living people) 1960 births 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American photographers 21st-century American male artists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American photographers American advertising people American art writers American fine art photographers American male non-fiction writers American portrait photographers American architectural photographers ArtCenter College of Design alumni Artists from Las Vegas Food photographers Living people Photographers from Los Angeles Photographers from Nevada Travel photographers University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni Wedding photographers Writers from Las Vegas Writers from Los Angeles