Greg Preston

Gregory Mark Preston (born June 2, 1960) is an American photographer and writer, known for his portraiture of artists within their creative spaces.

For college, Preston enrolled at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for his first two years as a fine arts major, thinking he wanted to be an illustrator, but really his desire was to be comic book artist.

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-based photography studio, Sampsel Preston Photography, on April 1, 1988.

Preston's love of the illustration and fantasy art – and a suggestion from cartoonist Scott Shaw – brought about the idea for Preston's project of portraits of artists within their studios. 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, Jack Kirby, Mark English, Keith Knight, Syd Mead, Steranko, Ron English, Glen Keane. Preston's The Artist Within portrait of artist Marie Severin was used by publications including The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Newsday 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; and CTN Animation Expo in Burbank, California; He has also spoken about his The Artist Within project before audiences at the CTN Animation Expo, Loyola Marymount University, and at the Art Center College of Design.