Samuel Hagen takes most of his photographs ‘at home.’ And home to Sam is western Oklahoma.

Born in California, Sam moved to Oologah when he was six. He came to Erick a few years later when his parents divorced. The youngest of six children, Sam followed his mother as she traveled the state doing cleanup on new apartments. He calls it a “hardscrabble life.”

At 23, Sam was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He accepted the invitation from elders at Mount Zion Church in Erick to anoint his head with oil and pray over him. He still remembers the healing fire as the elders lay hands on him. He emerged a changed man.

Following cancer treatment in Tulsa, he returned to Erick where he worked odd jobs until one day in 1998. A friend handed him a camera and gave him the feature editor job at the Sayre Journal. When the newspaper closed a year later, he bought his own camera and never looked back.

Samuel Hagen’s photos depict a fading lifestyle on the prairie. From vacant homesteads to the vanishing family farmer, his work captures a moment in time.

 Sam has been featured on Integris Health’s Discover Oklahoma, a weekly televised travel program, and on KFOR-TV’s Is this a Great State or What? and several local and state newspapers. “First Light,” featured on the cover of this book, hangs in the State Art Collection at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

“Photography can mend shattered dreams or build a puzzle where there is a missing piece. Memories and the past need to be preserved on film. Preserving these memories for future generations is what drives me every day of my life.”

"The Master's Light...a Testimony"
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