BIO
| ABOUT |
| Conservation photographer, Kim Baker, is a native Oklahoman. Born in Muskogee and raised in Shawnee, today, Kim lives in the beautiful rolling hills of southern Lincoln County in central Oklahoma. Kim has been photographing the diverse land of Oklahoma for over 25 years. Kim’s nature and landscape photography has exhibited across the state including the Oklahoma State Capitol, the Mabee Gerrer Museum of Art, the Philbrook Museum of Art, and the JRB Art at the Elms among others. Her next showing is a collaborative exhibition as part of the Illinois River survey: A Visual Record photography exhibit. Kim’s work has been published in Oklahoma Today Magazine, Outdoor Oklahoma, and AAA’s Home and Away; her clients include, among others, the Oklahoma Department of Tourism, the Oklahoma Business Roundtable, Tulsa Cancers Centers of America, Walker Creative Inc, the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center, Arden and Associates, and Oklahoma City Advertising Agency, Ackerman and McQueen. With over eighty pieces, Tulsa Cancer Centers of America owns the largest collection of Kim Baker’s photographs. Kim’s work also resides in countless private residences of those who love the outdoors and appreciate Kim's distinctive photographic style. In 2001, Kim started a photographic project documenting the rivers of Oklahoma. Designed to increase public awareness and appreciation for the state’s water resources, Kim’s "Oklahoma Rivers" series exhibited at the Oklahoma State Capitol, the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission, and the Oklahoma Aquarium, and was profiled by Oklahoma Today Magazine, the Oklahoman, the Oklahoma Gazette, Discover Oklahoma and News Channel 4's, "Great State". Her Oklahoma Rivers project is ongoing and will continue until Oklahoma’s rivers are safe from all risks to their ecological integrity – which, unfortunately for the rivers, is probably never. Kim nature photography has evolved into a deeper occupation as a conservation photographer. The work of conservation photographers moves beyond the mere creation of photography that celebrates the beauty of nature, into a position of leadership that requires one to organize conservation initiatives utilizing their work to make a meaningful difference for environmental conservation of threatened areas. Grassroots environmental groups, non-governmental organizations, and state and federal agencies have utilized Kim’s work for conservation purposes. These groups include the Oklahoma Office of the Secretary of the Environment, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, the Oklahoma Biological Survey, the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, Save the Illinois River (STIR), the Sierra Club, the Oklahoma Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Oklahoma Biological Survey and Oklahoma Natural Areas Registry, and the Illinois River Watershed Partnership Group among others. Kim’s photography involves creating work for the specific purpose of environmental and water conservation. Photographs that help in the protection of natural places have strong purpose and can be a powerful tool to help change public perceptions and help resolve the growing disconnect between humans and their natural world. "My Oklahoma Rivers project has led me on an incredible journey of discovery. I feel very lucky for the incredible memories of wonderfully remote locations, stunning in their isolation and timelessness - wild and untamed stretches bursting with wildlife and unforgettable scenes of magnificent, awe-inspiring beauty - I will carry those experiences with me always. Nowhere do I feel more at peace and more in my element than when walking along a river. One of the best things you can do is get to know a river. It is important to me that my work help safeguard Oklahoma’s water for future generations. My time spent exploring the state’s life-rich rivers and seeing firsthand the rich diversity of ecosystems they support have instilled in me a strong environmental ethic that has come to define my photographic career. My work photographing Oklahoma’s rivers and the ecologically rich regions they traverse have only reinforced my understanding that species-rich, healthy functioning ecosystems are essential to the future of human survival. It is a complex subject, yet simple in its fundamental truth. Every action - good and bad - counts; everything is part of the equation when it comes to the environment. Everything is connected. The natural services healthy-functioning ecosystems provide to human well-being and society are as innumerable as they are invaluable, and would be incredibly cost prohibited to simulate artificially. As a conservation photographer, I have made the commitment to use my photographs to advance conservation and to put my photography to action. For my work to be effective, it must not only inspire and empower, but also inform and affect change. I want to convey the sense of urgency and the important message that we must alter our collective behavior and our resource consumption or risk our very survival". Kim's book the Illinois River Survey: A Visual Record is now available. To order The Illinois River Survey: A Visual Record visit the Illinois River Watershed gallery or visit www.illinoisriversurvey.com |
 |