James Baker collection

James Baker is a photographer originating from the New England area. Attended graduate school at Rhode Island School of Design where he studied with Aaron Siskand, Harry Callahan, and visiting faculty Minor White and Lisette Model. He worked at both the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and the University of Texas in Dallas as a tenured faculty member.

He became the Photography Program Director at Anderson Ranch Arts Center near Aspen, Colorado where he invited hundreds of renowned photographers to teach and participate in workshops. These artists included Frederic Sommer, Mark Klett, Linda Connor, and Mary Ellen Mark among many others. He co-curated Photography: Selected Images exhibition, planned The Political Landscape Conference, and recreated and wrote about The 1951 Aspen Photography Conference for Aspen magazine.

During his years, he collected recordings of photographers talking about their work and creative process. These include the Allen Street Gallery Talks, Anderson Ranch Workshops featuring Frederick Sommer, his radio hosted program titled "All About the Arts".

The Aspen Institution hosted The 1951 "Aspen Photography Conference" under the leadership of Walter and Elizabeth Paepcke. The purpose of the conference was to bring attention to the art of photography through lectures, an exhibition, and informal discussion groups led by experts in the field. Due to a fire in the 1960s, all records associated with the conference were lost, so James Baker through the use of interviews and research reconstructed the conference and wrote about it in Aspen Magazine in 2004.

Photography: Selected Images was an exhibition that toured nationally from 1976-1978. James Baker co-curated and presented. This exhibition and symposia showcased works and methods by Aaron Siskand, Harry Callahan, Arnold Newman, Gary Winogrand, Ray Metzger and Laura Gilpin.

Allen Street Gallery Talks: Allen Street Gallery was a non-profit gallery that operated in the 1980’s in storefront exhibition space in Dallas, Texas. Noted photographers were invited to exhibit their work and present talks. Audio talks often accompanied slide presentations.

The Political Landscape Conference,1989. Stemmed from Richard Misrach's idea of a Photography Workshop in 1988. James Baker planned the conference with the aid and advice of Richard Misrach. Held at the Snowmass Club, it was a confluence of artists and environmental as well as political leaders. Associated with the SPE, it was shown concurrently at Anderson Ranch. Approximately 200 presenters, that was expansive and inclusive with representatives from intermountain wests’s native tribes, politicians, writers, historians, filmmakers, activists and photographers.

From 1995-2006 James Baker hosted a weekly 25 minute radio interview on KAJX titled All About the Arts. The show interviewed artists, writers, poets and filmmakers about their creative process.