Samuel Dameus

Samuel Dameus was born in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti. He attended Collège Notre-Dame du Perpétuel Secours in Cap-Haïtien before earning a bachelor’s degree in social communication from the Faculté des Sciences Humaines at the Université d’État d’Haïti in 2005. A decade later, he continued his education in Spain, completing a graduate specialization in crisis communication with UN Tourism, formerly known as the UNWTO.

Samuel began his media career early. At just 15 years old, he was already working as a television presenter for RTK, Radio Télé Konbit, in Cap-Haïtien, where he hosted “Discovering Talents” and “Meeting Young People.”

A career built on communication

After university, his work expanded into institutional and international communications. In 2010, he served as a communications officer for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. In 2014, he became head of communications at Haiti’s Ministry of Tourism, where he contributed to efforts to rebuild the country’s international image through campaigns grounded in substance rather than spin.

Marketing roles at Sunrise Airways and Curls Dynasty followed. In 2019, he opened Select Barbershop, Cap-Haïtien’s first high-end barbershop, further demonstrating the entrepreneurial instinct that has always accompanied his work in media and communications.

Samuel began using photography seriously in 2010, in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. Frustrated by the narrow and often incomplete ways the world portrayed Haiti, he set out to place a different image of the country before the public.

He describes the approach he developed as “Social Photography”: using the camera to highlight the beauty, strength, and humanity already present in Haitian communities, not simply to document hardship, but to inspire change.

Faces of Haiti

That vision became Faces of Haiti, officially launched on January 27, 2017, through a debut photography exhibition at Makaya Gallery in Miami. The project quickly expanded beyond one city. The exhibition and its accompanying photo book traveled to Miami, Orlando, Havana, Beijing, Geneva, Montreal, Paris, and London before the international tour concluded at home in Haiti.

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced galleries around the world to close, Samuel moved the project online rather than allow it to stall. That decision transformed Faces of Haiti into the digital media platform it is today, reaching millions of people across Haiti and the diaspora through stories centered on Haitian dignity, achievement, culture, and identity rather than the headlines that have traditionally defined the country. As Samuel puts it: “Faces of Haiti is a movement.”

An award-winning filmmaker

His work in still photography eventually led him into filmmaking. Samuel wrote, directed, and produced BOYO: Haiti in 30 Days, a 92-minute documentary exploring Haiti’s history, people, culture, and destinations. The film premiered at AMC Aventura in Miami on October 1, 2021.

In 2022, he launched the first Faces of Haiti / BOYO Films Festival, an annual celebration created to showcase and support Haitian cinema.

His second documentary, The Heroes of the Massacre River, premiered on May 30, 2025, at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex in Miami, followed by a New York premiere later that year. The film tells the story of the Haitian workers and communities behind the construction of the Ouanaminthe Canal, a grassroots initiative that became, in Samuel’s words, a symbol of unity and resistance.

The documentary later received the 2026 Film for Peace Best Film – Caribbean Award from the International Peace Alliance, with the honor scheduled to be presented during the Peace Ambassadors Awards Gala in Toronto. Samuel dedicated the recognition to Milourie Sylfrard, one of the canal movement’s key figures.

He has also worked in front of the camera, appearing in the Haitian films Je m’en souviens and Jézabel, and serves as casting director for the upcoming film July 7.

Beyond the frame

Beyond media and filmmaking, Samuel has served on the board of directors of the Ayiti Community Trust, supporting locally led organizations working toward lasting change in Haiti. He also invests independently in short-term rental properties.

Across media, photography, film, entrepreneurship, and community development, Samuel’s work remains connected to the same place where his journey began: Cap-Haïtien.