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Flying BOAC to Africa, as a ten year-old unaccompanied minor, first lit Richard Baker's fuse for wanderlust and photography.
He committed himself to photography in his mid-twenties, studying Documentary Photography at Newport College of Art where he discovered the alluring words colour and reportage. Taken on by the fledgling Katz Pictures in 1988, as well as a spell with The Observer newspaper, he was also a delayed member of the notable Independent Photographers Group (IPG).
His corporate imagery has been presented in high-profile company literature and his photo-essays in the world’s image-led magazines and books. His most rewarding long-term bodies of work were the recruiting of British Gurkhas in Nepal; a picture diary of his daughter's first year and the aftermath of 9/11 in America. More recently, he has come full-circle from the days of working in and out of airliners. Plane Pictures is a largely unpublished celebration of flying culture, 100 years after the Wright Brothers first powered-flight.
In 2005 his book,‘Red Arrows,’ was published, recounting his year spent photographing and writing about the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team. This may remain his own finest hour.
In 2007, he started the exhaustive editing and uploading of his archives. He also started a blog that allows him to write at will on quirky photo-led topics and about the wider-world. 2008 saw the publication of the Ikea-sponsored 'UK at Home' book that featured his journeys in the Isle of Skye, a place on mother earth to which this apologetic townie longs to return.
In 2009 Richard worked for the second time with Alain de Botton on 'A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary' (Profile Books) while still enjoying wide interest in de Botton's The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (Hamish Hamilton, 2009) on which he collaborated first. There was also a semi-colour edition of this book published by Monocle as well as subsequent foreign editions. There was also personal work produced called The art of recession.
In 2010 An exhibition opened at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford along with an ongoing show at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, both drawing from material from The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work. And Pisa Airport is currently showing work from A Week at the Airport as part of the Festival della Creativita.
And currently in 2011, he is perservering with a series of thematic personal Street Photography work from which an invited group are helping edit a forthcoming Blurb book.
Red Arrows, the project
The much-asked 'how did Red Arrows come about?' is best described as a fluke .. (More)
Projects & Assignments
Paintball Games (1985); English Evangelism (1986); Guardian Angels (1988); Channel Tunnel (1989-90); Graffiti Boys (1989); One Germany (1990); Poll Tax (1990); Canary Wharf (1991); Cannes Film Festival (1992); General Election (1992); British Army (1993); Square Mile (1992-93); London's Lost Rivers (1993); English Seasides (1993); English Season (1993); Mazes (1993); Lisbon, City of Culture (1994); Rollercoasters (1994); Gurkhas (1994); Macau (1994); Atlanta, 100th Olympic City (1995); Oxford Street (1995); Côte d'Azur (1996); From Womb to One Candle (1995-6); Year of the Pier (1995-6); Hong Kong Handover (1997); Plane Pictures (1998-2003); These Colors Don't Run - After 9/11 (2001); Roadside Memorials (2000-1); Olympic Greece (2004); Monica Ali's Brick Lane (2005); Stratford 2012 Olympics (2005); Red Arrows (2004-05); Bath Spas (2006); Virgin Space Tourists (2006); Wingwalking (2007); Window-Watching (2007); UK at Home book (2007); Status Quo, for Guardian Weekend (2007); Veterans Aid, for Telegraph Saturday Magazine (2008); Ladies' darts, for Russian Reporter (2008); The Pleasure and Sorrows of Work 2007-9); Bust - The Art of Recession (2009); A Week at the Airport (2009); Personal reportage projects (2010); Pope Benedict's UK visit (2010); Street photography (2010); London Street Photography (2011).
Books
Places to Go, People to See (Mother agency, 2001)
Red Arrows (Dalton Watson, 2004)
Trafalgar Square (National Portrait Gallery, 2005)
UK at Home (Against All Odds Productions, 2008)
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (Hamish Hamilton UK 2009 and foreign editions)
A Week at the Airport (Profile Books UK 2009 and foreign editions)
Religion for Atheists (Hamish Hamilton 2011)
Solo shows
Metro Imaging London, Hong Kong Handover (1997)
Metro Imaging London, Red Arrows (2006)
Calumet, London, Red Arrows (2007)
Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2009-10)
The Museum of the History of Science, Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (2010)
Festival della Creativita, Pisa, A Week at the Airport (2010)
Group shows
Ffotogallery 'Members' Show (1986)
Visa Pour L'Image 'VE Day' (1995)
Association of Photographers, 'Pictures of the Year' (1999)
l'Oeuil sur Capitale: 24 hours in the life of Quebec (1999)
Fotofestival Naarden, World Cup' (2000)
Mother Agency 'Places to go. People to see' (2000)
M-real Gallerie Art, Finland (2007)
National Portrait Gallery, 'Circling The Square' (2004/5)
Z33 Gallery, Hasselt Belgium, Werk Nu (2009)
Festival della Creativita, Florence (2010)
Awards
Canon Photographer (1983); BIPP/Fuji Student Awards (1986); World Press (1994); PoY (1996).
Archive
A selection of Richard's IPG and Katz Pictures archive is available at Corbis, Photoshelter and Alamy.
(Updated December 2010).
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