Join us as Kipp Baker takes us through his journey with photography and shows us how to better talk about images we see—why we like them or not—and how to express those likes or dislikes in verbal language by improving our understanding of photography’s visual language.
Is the image more like a poem or a novel? Does it scream, or whisper an unshakeable belief? Is it beautiful or horrific? Why? What vocabulary, rules of grammar and syntax must we know beyond the technical language of equipment, exposure and software? And, most importantly, how do these qualities of language allow us to better understand not only images we see in books or at a museum, but in our own viewfinders?
Kipp will use the concepts of FRAMING, FOCUS, POSITION and a SENSE of TIME as a jumping-off point to dig into art philosophies like existentialism, essentialism, modern and postmodern, how they show up in our media landscape and how they affect and change us.
Bio
Kipp Baker has produced serious photographs for himself and others since the 1970s. With a BFA from TCU (Texas Christian University) in Commercial Arts, he's been making a success of it for his clients since he won a Gold Medal at the New York Film Festival in 1979. Many successes and awards have followed. Among them, journalism's Katy Award; Gold and Silver Addys and publication in prestigious periodicals. His work uses a visual language developed from the aware use of the camera—everything from Polaroid SX-70s (now IM9OSSIBLE film) to the range of all film formats—35/120mm to 8x10 large format.
Kipp's visual sense of syntax calls for responses from the viewer, everything from the visual joke to profound visual statements; pictured narratives or poetic pixels. No matter the subject, using gritty photojournalistic authenticity or photoshopped perfection, he brings a valued story to the viewer and the marketplace.
“Using photographs, I strive to challenge, as well as entertain myself to better engage my world—better predict where I'm going—not just document where I've been. My concerns revolve around perception. How and why do we see what we do? What does that bring to our spirit in a real way? How can I bring the meanings of those observations to others? My photography explores (if we are courageous enough) to see not only the “real” world, but also abstract inner worlds, which are just as informative, uplifting and fascinating.”
Kipp is a member of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and the Texas Photographic Society.
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