With a studio nestled in the dense forests of the Yarra Valley, fine art photographer Kate j Baker is bringing her handcrafted gelatin silver prints to The Other Art Fair this January.
Hosted at Melbourne’s Timber Yard, just outside the CBD, the alternative arts expo begins its global tour in Victoria, showcasing over 100 independent artists from Thursday 30 January to Sunday 2 February 2025.
One of the artists on display is Kate j Baker, who says The Other Art Fair is “a great opportunity for independent artists to present their work in a direct, compelling way.”
2025 marks her second time at the Fair, returning this year after many positive memories of her initial experience.
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“Seeing people engage with the work,” she reflects, “and having 1-to-1 conversations about the work, with people who may never otherwise have seen it, is a wonderful thing. Galleries are valuable, but feedback is less immediate.”
The Other Art Fair not only grants artists like Baker direct contact with art-lovers and potential buyers, but also to fellow artists: “It’s great way to connect, as we so often work alone.”
Within Baker’s photography, she strives to achieve the essence of an idea or an emotion, saying that audiences who sit with one of her works often evolve a connection to that image in unexpected ways.
As such, they are images she feels can stand the test of time.
“My work is handmade in a traditional darkroom which makes every piece individual,” she says of her process. “For me, the darkroom is a sanctuary, a place where time stands still; where I feel fully connected to something greater than myself. It can take a whole day to make a print I am happy with – and even then, there are so many reasons I might decide later something isn’t quite there. So a final print really is a special thing!”
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Baker’s insistence on black and white photography stems more for a personal connection to the medium, than to the history of photography itself – and the rigid place that black and white photography holds within that.
For much of the twentieth century, the predominant way in which photography could be regarded ‘seriously’ was if it were captured in black and white. It wasn’t until the 1960s that pioneers of colour photography such as William Egglestone and William Shore legitimised the artistic merit of photography beyond monochrome boundaries.
In light of this, it is not a conscious decision on Baker’s part to shoot exclusively in black and white, so as to be regarded as a ‘serious’ photographer. Instead, it is the deep artistic connection she feels with the processing and development of black and white film that steered her away from what she calls “the colour route.”
“With black and white,” she says, “I can physically witness and participate in the print process from beginning to end in the darkroom. Colour darkroom printing needs to be in pitch black, whereas with black and white, I have a more visceral experience under the red lights in my darkroom sanctuary.”
Baker finds a degree of authenticity within monochrome images, which she doesn’t recognise in conventional colour photography: “It feels personal. Monochrome allows a clearer connection to the emotion I am trying to express.”
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There is perhaps only one colour photographer from whom she would take inspiration: Saul Leiter, whose deep, vibrant hues add an aesthetic depth that overshadows what Baker considers the more distracting elements of ‘realistic’ colour photography.
This year, Baker will be displaying a range of work from previous photography series, including one in which she employed paper negatives instead of traditional film.
“I used them to create silver gelatin prints of ocean landscapes from the Great Ocean Road,” she says. “They look a little like 19th century lithographs, and are more about the feeling of the ocean than something literal.”
Another series on display will be Baker’s images inspired by Nijinsky, “the first great male star of the ballet. The Australian Ballet will perform a Nijinsky ballet in March 2025 and my collaborator for this series is part of the choreographer John Neumeier’s Hamburg Ballet.”
The series explores the story behind Baker’s meeting the dancer Aleix Martinez, who performed as the series’ original artistic collaborator in 2014, following her first encounter as an audience member in Australia – until she finally, unexpectedly, met him on a platform in Germany…
To see more of Baker’s work, along many other established and on-the-rise creatives, The Other Art Fair is a must-see for all art-lovers.