SAMUEL BOOTH
Cluster Photography & Print | Digital Exhibitor | 2025
NATURE TAMING MY PAIN MONSTER
Samuel Booth (b. 1982) is an English photographer based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. A brain injury in 2009 left him with chronic daily pain, and photography has become a form of therapy. Originally starting as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award hobby in 2001, photography has played a significant role throughout his life, especially now.
Before his brain injury, Samuel worked in the sports industry and gained an MSc in Sport Development in 2008. The injury ended this career, but photography enabled him to find a new direction. After completing a Master of Fine Art Photography in 2024 at the University of Ulster, achieving a distinction, he hopes to pursue a PhD exploring how photography can help people with hidden pain—both physical and mental—confront and express their experiences. Through abstract imagery, he has been able to depict both the dark and lighter aspects of his struggle with pain, with photography serving as his form of medication.
MY DEMON OF DEPRESSION
MY PAIN MONSTER
“The Pain Monster is an intimate portrait of my struggle with chronic pain following a traumatic brain injury. Like many others who have suffered similar injuries, I live with an unrelenting ‘monster’ that lurks within me, unseen yet ever-present. Its attacks are constant. It never leaves. It is a part of my life.”
SAMUEL BOOTH
“Through photography—using camera movements and prolonged exposures—I have found a way to confront this pain and give it a face. At last, I have clarity and have been able to come to terms with the reality I face every day. The Monster has been exposed.
This project is both a source of solace and a message of hope to all who struggle with physical and mental pain. It is a means of finding a way to tame and ultimately overcome suffering.”