Twyla Sampaco

Twyla Sampaco is a Filipina-American photographer and self-published author based in Seattle, WA. Preferring old, gifted, and novelty film cameras, she makes the most of faulty shutters and ambient light; reprocessing unresolved trauma with the romance of plastic lenses, leaking light seals, and inconsistent film advance mechanisms. Her hybrid analog-digital photography process gives her something tangible to hold in her hands and creative latitude for expressing emotional truth.  

Twyla graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in Material Science & Engineering and did program management things at big companies until she stopped. In 2021, she self-published her first book, Technicolor Nightmare, a photo memoir about surviving bipolar disorder in her twenties. Twyla’s current projects are surviving bipolar disorder in her thirties, and completing her next book.  

She is a resident artist at Blue Cone Studios where she hosts free monthly community events. She completed a residency with Sou’wester Arts Week in 2025, and teaches workshops at Photographic Center Northwest. Her work has been exhibited at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Vermillion Gallery, A-Gallery, and in METHOD Gallery’s “In Bloom” exhibition at the Georgetown Steam Plant.