Sam Bell is a documentary photographer based in Canada, working on long-term, research-driven projects. She began her career working in a portrait studio and film lab, then went on to found and operate a photography company with commissioned projects across Latin America, the United States, East and South Africa, and Canada.

She holds a PhD in Art History and Archaeology from SOAS, University of London, with a practice-based research thesis on documentary photography and slow violence; an MSc in African Studies from the University of Oxford; and a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of British Columbia.