Shirley Baker
Shirley Baker
September 4, 2015
Shirley Baker, Manchester, 1968
© Shirley Baker Estate Courtesy of Mary Evans Picture Library
Despite being the only woman practicing street photography in Britain at the time, Shirley Baker’s humanist documentary work received little attention throughout her sixty-five year career. Her visual puns, often the result of juxtaposing ‘chance’ elements in her field of vision, result in a humour and everyday surrealism that would have eluded most passers-by. Objects and scenes take on significance beyond their literal appearance. Half demolished walls and peeling wallpaper resound with lives once lived. Her meticulous focus on graffiti brings the plain brickwork to life and generates backdrops for scenarios in which her ordinary subjects, in their functional environments, become momentarily extraordinary.
This exhibition includes previously unseen colour photographs by Baker alongside black and white images and ephemera such as magazine spreads, contact sheets and various sketches.
Find more information at The Photographers’ Gallery
Shirley Baker, Manchester, 1968
© Shirley Baker Estate Courtesy of Mary Evans Picture Library
Shirley Baker, Hulme, May 1965
© Shirley Baker Estate Courtesy of the Shirley Baker Estate
Shirley Baker, Hulme, July 1965
© Shirley Baker Estate Courtesy of the Shirley Baker Estate