Baker Artist Portfolios

Much has gone missing in our pandemic years. People and our way of life top the list of the missing. But, with the world in slow motion, we have had much time to become cognizant of the many facets of our world that are disappearing. It is alarming to watch people, animals, birds, habitats, civility and political systems disappear. 

My photographic work over the last couple of years depicts disappearance. Each series undergoes a transition from the detailed and distinct to an abstraction obscured by atmospheric haze. The photographic subject matter is difficult to find at the end of these series. It has almost completely disappeared. The photographs become my visual metaphors for the disappearances I see everywhere.

My photographic style lends itself well to the formation of these series. Since I have worked in a variety of mediums, I am not tied to photographic veracity or stylistic conventions. My photographic work often exhibits abstracted reality. I explore the possibilities of photography. 

I have developed my own techniques for capturing reflections and representing transparency. My camera movement technique causes subject matter to become transparent and detail to disappear. These techniques have allowed me to create images with subjects that appear to fade away.

My exploration of photographic possibilities occurred years after the completion of my photographic education at Maryland Institute, College of Art. The boundaries of my photographic world dropped away when I became fascinated with the dual realities found in reflection. My photographs of reflections earned me National Geographic and Art Ascent magazine awards. Vincent Katz, New York art critic, selected my reflection photographs for a year-long Critics Residency Program. 

Once released from the documentary nature of photography, I found elements of abstraction to photograph everywhere. I began to use other agents of abstraction such as decontextualization and focus to create my photographic art. Many of these artistic images found their way into permanent corporate collections, such as Hilton Worldwide, PNC Bank, and Amazon, Inc.

My most recent solo exhibition, near Washington DC, showcased one of my newest agents of photographic abstraction… my camera movement technique. By moving my camera, like a paint brush, as I released the shutter, my own physical response could be imprinted on my photographic images. Using this technique, I create form, transparency, and texture on my photographic discoveries.

My photographs are no longer confined to passive recordings of composition. I have expanded my photographic vision to include a more active participation in the creation of my photographic art.