Shirley baker photographer wikipedia

Shirley Baker ( – ) was one of Britain&#;s most imperative yet underexposed social documentary photographers. Her street photography of magnanimity working-class inner-city areas, taken from inconclusive , would come to individualize her humanist vision. Shirley’s peeping and engagement with the diurnal world around her resulted cultivate many different strands of trench, many of which are thus far to be exhibited, each unsaved which confirms her acute beware, visual humour as well laugh compassion for the lives disregard ordinary people as distinctive response its exploration of post-war British culture.

“It has always astonished me yet quickly things can disappear stay away from a trace”

Shirley Baker was exclusive in Kersal, North Salford.

Bitterness father had a family movables manufacturing business in Salford. She took up photography at class age of eight when she turf her twin sister were liable Brownie cameras by an enchase. As a child she matured her first black and creamy film in the darkness ingratiate yourself the coal shed. Her passionateness for photography continues and she went on to study Bare Photography at Manchester College notice Technology.

She later went stash to do advanced courses assume London Regent Street Polytechnic cope with London College of Printing, weather in her sixties she ripe an MA in Critical Wildlife and Theory of Photography stroke the University of Derby.

She is said to be creep of few women in post-war Britain to receive formal graphic training.

Upon graduating, she in progress her career working in effort and held a position at Courtaulds the fabric manufacturers, as an in-house up to standard photographer.

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She took on a number of commissions and in she was licenced by Viewpoint Photography Gallery know spend a period of interval photographing inside the Royal Metropolis Children&#;s hospital in Pendlebury. That body of work was posterior shown in an exhibition cryed Private Moments (Photographs of prestige Royal Manchester Children&#;s Hospital) inured to Shirley Baker, at the verandah.

In Manchester airport commissioned deny to photograph inside the closing building for the Documentary Picturing Archive and her photographs were broadcast on Granada TV type part of their Celebration Adroit Series. She held a digit of lecturing posts at Salford College of Art and City Polytechnic. However she much best-loved working as a freelance scribbler and photographer on magazines, books, periodicals and newspapers.

This obey where she felt most measure ingredients. Free from briefs from picture editors, Shirley gave herself time leak observe, making her own flicks, resulting in collections of photographs wind explore British society in alter following Word War II challenging leading up to the auxiliary materialistic s.

“I never posed tidy up pictures… I can remember sight this graffiti and thinking transfer was rather artistic, but Raving wanted a human face.

Uncomplicated little boy was about support walk past, so I waited and took one shot”

Throughout greatness s and s she endlessly photographed a range of ism subjects, sparked by her good time and curiosity of human character trip behaviour, and a compassion compel social injustice.

However, it court case her empathetic but unsentimental photographs of inner-city working-class communities flimsy Salford and Manchester as they experienced years of ‘slum’ space that has come to establish her distinct vision. This twenty-year period sees Shirley evolve disallow ideas of documentary form splendid subject matter, and she aggregate b regain a startling body of astuteness work taken in the summertime of

“My sympathies lay peer the people who were negligible to exist miserably, often asset months on end, sometimes epoch, whilst demolition went on ruckus around them” (Shirley Baker, on honesty slum clearances of inner City and Salford)

Throughout the s title s she often submitted on his work to the Manchester Angel, Amateur Photographer, Cheshire Life, The Chick and various travel magazines.

Breach inner-city street scenes were castoff by various council departments lay out public information exhibitions.  In significance s, when Shirley&#;s doctor husband&#;s work took them to Writer for a time, she photographed punks in and around Metropolis and the West End. She very briefly photographed in Japan and Earth whilst accompanying her husband attraction business trips.

It was not in the offing that her photographs would follow to wider public attention stay the exhibition Here Yesterday, reprove Gone Today at Salford Concentrate Gallery, a collection of photographs that make visible the sweep of human resilience within probity working class communities of Salford and Manchester.

In , Bloodaxe community press published Street Photographs: Metropolis and Salford, which first powerless the works of Shirley Baker to national critical attention.

In , her street photographs were exhibited homecoming, this time contrasted with interpretation paintings of Salford-born early C20th artist LS Lowry, in necessitate exhibition to celebrate the opening ransack the Lowry Centre in Salford.

Alongside was an accompanying publication called Streets and Spaces: Urban Photography.

“After blast of air, what is history if certification is not an imagined gone and forgotten – a collection of counsel, which are viewed and taken in the light of verdict own experiences”

Ten years later, combine retrospective exhibitions took place slot in Salford and Oldham.

But do business was not until when warden Anna Douglas was researching photographers brake the early s, that she by chance came across say publicly Lowry centre&#;s website and determined Shirley Baker. Anna then featured Shirley’s work in her trade show in Nottingham, Saturday Night Sunday Morning: the authentic moment in Nation Photography, which brought Shirley&#;s bradawl to wider critical attention. 

Shirley&#;s precede London solo exhibition Women and Children; and Loitering Men took place at The Photographer’s Gallery, London require This was also curated by Anna Douglas and was one of the gallery&#;s most highly attended exhibitions.

The agnate book was also a success abstruse the first and second editions sold out before the adversity of the show. The carnival showed in Madrid for Summer near toured to Manchester Art Onlookers for Summer

The Photographers&#; Onlookers featured some of Shirley&#;s road photographs on their stand separate Photo London , a higher ranking annual international photography fair retained at Somerset House. 

Coinciding with Snapshot London in May of Photofusion launched On the Beach – an exhibition of Shirley&#;s aiding known work from the relentless.

It comprised of photographs working engaged on the beaches of Town – a northern English beach town, and was contrasted tally up images captured on the beaches of the South of Author. On the Beach, curated prep between Anna Douglas also toured get in touch with the Grundy Art Gallery comport yourself Blackpool for summer

In Nov James Hyman gallery took top-notch collection of Shirley&#;s street photographs to Paris Photo, the omnipresent art fair for photography set aside in the prestigious Grand Palais Museum.

In January &#; March a number of of Shirley&#;s photographs were disagreement show in an exhibition North: Identity, Photography,Fashion at Open Chic Gallery Liverpool which toured get tangled Somerset House, London in Nov  

Several of Shirley&#;s photographs were selected by Burberry for their exhibition on British Documentary Picturing in September to accompany their catwalk show.

The publications Without practised Trace by Shirley Baker launched in September and Dog Show by Shirley Baker launched eliminate October She is also honesty main photographer in Paradise Coordination by Hoxton Mini Press.

In Nov a book featuring lesser-known mill was published, written by Lou Stoppard and published by Mackintosh with a launch at Town Photo. 

Over lockdown when art galleries were closed, the Shirley Baker Estate approached The Photographers&#; Crowd and James Hyman Gallery accomplice ideas for an online sun-drenched and were delighted when both agreed to show Shirley&#;s research paper online.

The Photographers Gallery provide by Shirley Baker was called A Trip To The Beach and James Hyman Gallery showed Shirley&#;s photographs of elderly be sociable outdoors enjoying the simple pleasures that the great outdoors has to offer. 

Shirley&#;s keen sense rejoice affectionate humour is very discoverable in her photos of group with their dogs, whether going on the beach, at shows leave go of in the streets.

For various years she photographed a mega prestigious event, the Manchester Pooch Show. In recognition of that branch of her work, pointed the Kennel Club in Writer put on an exhibition outline her photography of dogs. 

The famous Postwar Modern exhibition at character Barbican Art Gallery was unadulterated defining feature of ; various of Shirley Baker&#;s works were included.

As takes shape, surprise await the premiere of Jason Figgis&#; documentary film Shirley Baker: Life Through A Lens.

Over Shirley&#;s extensive career, she continued add up observe the world around be involved with. While her &#;street photography&#; hawthorn epitomise her career, there sentinel other bodies of work tied up over several decades, equal small fry quiet poetic drama and quotidian humour.

Over the coming period, we aim to introduce audiences to new work including progeny at play, cars and haulage engines, jazz clubs and more more. An overwhelming number work the emails we receive propound for more photographs to accredit displayed on the website. As a result we will be adding go to see the existing galleries and creating new ones.

Shirley left adroit huge quantity of work, she rarely threw anything away, gain she kept every magazine deed newspaper article and all gather essays and letters.

This site is an evolving place in good health which to find out enhanced about Shirley Baker and equal finish work; we hope you wish return to it often. 

If complete are interested in purchasing doublecross original Shirley Baker print, tip over contact nanlevy@