Samantha Hurley is a fourth-year journalism and Spanish major at the University of Georgia, most recently seen in the New York Times and the Associated Press. 

Born with Albinism and therefore legal blindness, Sam learned to navigate the curiosities, expectations and stereotypes strangers have of disability at a young age. Samantha draws on these experiences to deepen her reporting, never shying away from the difficult questions. 

As a photojournalist, she builds on a lifetime of awareness of the visual world, constantly asked, “So what can you see?” On a mission to answer that question, she discovered her passion for photojournalism. Once told that photojournalism isn't about showing what you see, but how you see it, Samantha's visual work is uniquely intentional and emotionally driven. Who better to photograph the world’s events than someone seeing them up close for the first time? 

Samantha worked with the Associated Press to cover the Paris Paralympic Games, an opportunity at the intersection of photojournalism and disability storytelling. She worked in Washington D.C. covering environmental politics, protests and legislation. With travel writing trips to Hawaii and leadership experience as photo editor at the student newspaper under her belt, Samantha is excited to continue her career.