Ms. Baker, a professional photographer, owns Allamanda Gallery on Main Street. Before she came to her current profession, she and her husband Clive Petrovic ran a charter boat and sailed around the Virgin Islands. During those sails, she took many of the landscape and seascape photos that would later be displayed in her gallery.
How did you get into photography?
Really, what got me started in photography was taking portraits — and mostly children’s photographs. That’s really how my business started, and then it quickly went from children’s portraits to weddings. Then it was a couple years into the business that I started to showcase these kinds of work that I have in the gallery.
What was it about children’s photography that captured your attention?
I think probably having my son. I had been an amateur photographer for many years, and when I had my son the natural thing was to start taking photos of him. I found that I really liked to do that, and so I started taking photos of my friends’ children. It was just a natural progression from that. Portrait photography is one of my main focuses, and a lot of my work is still based on portraits.
I think over the years that is something that you practise and you become better at. For a portrait photographer, 80 percent of it is that connection that you have with the person. The end product is basically a result of that connection you have with the person at the time. So talking to them and how comfortable they are is going to result in the type of photos you end up with. Doing portrait photography has probably helped me to relate to people as well.
Do you remember your first camera?
The first camera that was totally mine, other than a little camera, was a medium format camera that I had purchased. It was a Hasselblad and quite an investment. I still have that camera and I still love that camera. It’s a square format camera, so all the photos are square. Actually, if you look in my gallery, you will see a lot of square photographs, and that’s where they come from.
What’s your favourite image?
That’s actually a hard one. If I think of the collection that we sell at the Allamanda Gallery, I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint one single one, but I tend to gravitate towards the ones that were taken on less sunny days. I love the black-and-white and sepia.
What’s the key to landscape photography?
That’s impossible to answer. Patience probably. You can’t decide, “Today I’m going to go out and I’m going to get my beautiful shot that’s going to be the best that I’ve ever taken.” You don’t know it till you get out there, and often you get it when you’re not looking for it. It happens unexpectedly, and you sometimes have to search for a while. It has to be something that connects with you.
In the past, photography has been a male-dominated field. Have you found that to be the case here?
Absolutely. But that might be changing somewhat, and it’s probably changing in other places too.
Have you had any issues marketing yourself in such a male-dominated field?
In some ways, I think that being a female may have helped me. When it comes to portraits and weddings — and, specifically, dealing with people — sometimes people feel more comfortable with a woman. Sometimes with children, a feminine touch can be less abrasive. As far as portrait photography goes, I think being a woman is definitely a good thing. As far as competition, I think that’s different. Being a woman, people maybe don’t take you as seriously as they do men. They just assume men have more experience or men are probably more professional. It’s just the way a lot of people think. But I think that’s changing.
How do you get around that?
I don’t. I just carry on. I’ve never felt intimidated by the fact that I’m a woman. I’ve felt intimidated by other photographers just competing with my work, but not because I’m a woman.
How does being behind a camera make you feel?
It is exciting. This can happen with both portrait photography and with landscape. Sometimes when you’re shooting, you just know when you’re getting that shot that you really want. When that happens, you get really excited. It doesn’t happen all the time, especially with the landscape photography. You can’t manipulate that. It’s just something that happens or doesn’t happen — whereas with portraits you’re dealing with people, and that is something that can be manoeuvred and choreographed more often.
Any advice to female photographers?
Go ahead. There’s no reason to stop and wonder whether the fact that you’re a woman is going to make a difference. You just go ahead and follow your dreams. If that’s what you want to do, then you have to work hard, persevere and don’t expect to get success immediately.
What’s been your most embarrassing moment as a photographer?
That’s a hard one. I’ve fallen over a few times when I’m shooting, but I’ve kind of gotten over it. I’ve never fallen in the pool or in the water or anything. I’ve split my trousers once while shooting a wedding. That was pretty embarrassing: shooting a wedding with my trousers split.
Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Ngovou Gyang.
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