Sam Fentress's work as an artist is available through SamuelFentress.com. His photographs are included in the following public, corporate, and private collections:
- THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
- BRUCE AND NANCY BERMAN
- BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE
- JOHN DANFORTH
- CENTER FOR DOCUMENTARY STUDIES/DUKE UNIVERSITY
- IN-N-OUT BURGER
- JOSLYN ART MUSEUM
- LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART
- MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
- MISSISSIPPI MUSEUM OF ART
- NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART
- PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
- PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM
- PAUL AND PRENTICE SACK COLLECTION
- SAINT LOUIS ART MUSEUM
- SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART
- While pursuing his MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1979 he became one of the youngest recipients of an Emerging Artist grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1981 Fentress began making documentary photographs along the American road, eventually traveling to 49 states building a body of work containing thousands of images of religious messages.
- His 2007 book, Bible Road: Signs of Faith in the American Landscape (David & Charles), led to extensive publicity, including interviews on CBS News Sunday Morning and NPR News and Notes. The book was reviewed in Newsweek and USA Today online, First Things, Commonweal, Image Journal, and the Houston Chronicle. Images from this series have been in solo and group exhibitions at O.K. Harris in New York, Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Afterimage Gallery in Dallas.