“There’s a lot of beautiful faces here, I think every face is beautiful actually,” said photographer Stephanie Baker.
A longtime Santa Barbara resident and photographer, Baker’s upcoming show Portraits will feature 750 faces of Santa Barbara in black-and-white, representing her collection which spans from 1990 to present. These are portraits that she hand selected as a “community slideshow” out of the thousands of photos in her archives.
The collection features “now and then” photographs that follow Baker’s subjects through different stages of life — from infancy to childhood to adulthood, and now even as they return with young families of their own. A series of “jumping” photos will also be on display at the exhibit, attesting to Baker’s playful energy.
The exhibit is a tribute to her 40 years of professional photography, capturing thousands of portraits with arrays of faces.
“A lot of times people say, ‘you’re an artist,’ but I’ve just been there to capture the moment,” says Baker, whom the profession is a natural hobby and talent for.
“I’m not working with very much. I have the same lens that I’ve had forever. It doesn’t even hold a cap on it. My equipment is basic,” says Baker. “For me, it’s just light that matters.”
Baker was more selective in curating her collection for this exhibit, having previously displayed 4,000 portraits in a collage format for the MAD Academy at Santa Barbara High School. It has been ten years since this previous exhibit, and Baker has a new approach of a highly curated now & then project, paying homage to the nostalgic quality of her photography.
“I must have the ten year itch because I’ve done this every ten years,” joked Baker.
“My daughters have told me to put out business cards, but this really isn’t to get business. I’m been doing this for so long, I’m not really looking for more work,” said Baker. “I just felt this was the time for an expression to do another creative project.
“There are photos from 40 years ago and there’s photos from two weeks ago,” says Baker about her extensive archives.
Baker has enjoyed the medium since she was young, “I knew I could just express images through people,” said Baker about her passion for portraits.
For those visiting the exhibit, Baker hopes that visitors appreciate the fascinating array of faces, no matter the intention of the visitor of her exhibit, whether they are entering to “recognize faces or just to feel joy, beauty, and hope.”
“I know that a picture of a face doesn’t say that itself, but when they’re all there together, they really make you feel good,” Baker says.
Baker gave resounding advice — ”hold onto your photographs. Save them, archive them, cherish them.” She even recounted an anecdote about a friend of hers who had lost her home in the Palisades Fire. She recalls digging through her friend’s file and located photos of her children, and giving her the photos, a way of telling a story of the past.
Baker’s portraits will be on display at the Community Arts Workshop, 631 Garden Street, from 5-8 p.m. on January 16 and 17. sbcaw.org/upcoming
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