I have been photographing, painting and drawing most of my life and after retirement from Warwick University in 2006 I moved to Bath and took up new media art and street photography. I have been a member of the Photo Bath group since December 2016. I have become an experienced street photographer centring my practice on Bath, but also working in Bristol, London, and the cities of the USA and Europe. I try to follow the rule laid down by the great American street photographer Robert Frank: "There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment. This kind of photography is realism. But realism is not enough, there has to be vision, and the two together can make a good photograph." I consider my work is essentially a celebration of humanity, made with humanity as well as aesthetics in mind, catching fellow humans when relaxed, animated or thoughtful in public spaces. I often look for humour and irony in my subjects, but I do not shy away from sadder and more thoughtful images when they present themselves. Most of my street work is shot in black and white, which I consider to be best medium to retain what is essential in an image, but I do shoot some colour pieces any influenced by the American photographer Saul Leiter. I also do abstract photography and give talks on the history and practice of both street and abstract photography. My digital art and photographic works are in private collections around the world and have been used in various publications. I have had two solo exhibitions at the Bath Literary and Scientific Institution in recent years as well as participating in various group exhibitions in Bath, Bristol, London and Rome. My street cameras are a Leica V-Lux bridge camera 25-400mm and a mirrorless Fujifilm X-T2 with a 55-200mm lens. My works are available as archive quality prints on archive paper contact david.lewis.baker@gmail for prices.
