Photographer exhibits portraits

Jack Baxter with some of his "People and Places" photos. The photographer is displaying his work at the Lodge at Black Butte Ranch this summer. photo by Conrad Weiler Veteran photographer Jack Baxter has been displaying his worldwide photographs at Black Butte Ranch (BBR) this summer in a show titled "People and Places From Around The World."

Each month (June-September) a new collection of Baxter's work is on display in the Sparks room at the BBR Lodge.

Baxter, having traveled to over 40 countries in his 60-year photography career, captures a wide range of human subjects through his camera lens.

"I'm people-oriented," said the spry 84-year-old Baxter. "I cull very hard and probably keep less than 10 percent of the pictures I take. I try very hard not to make the backgrounds confusing and mainly focus on my subject."

Baxter now uses a Minolta camera with Provia 400 35mm transparency (slide) film but in his early days he started with National Reflex and Leica III-C cameras shooting Super-X film.

"I also have two digital cameras now, a Canon G5 and Nikon 5700, both five megapixels," he said. "Most of my prints displayed this summer are from film but a few are digital shots."

He also uses a Nikon scanner and Epson 2200 printer in his work. Some of his prints have been produced at Y'East in Portland.

Asked about future trips, Baxter plans a bird-hunting trip to Saskatchewan, Canada, this fall followed by visits to India for horseback riding, Japan for skiing, China and Hawaii.

"Of course I'll have my camera along and get some good pictures," he said.

Baxter's photographs have been displayed in galleries throughout the world and currently his work is displayed in Aspen, Colorado and Mexico as well as at BBR. He has also displayed at Camerawork and Imagework Galleries in Portland and Bend's Mirror Pond Gallery.

"My new project is working with figure studies," Baxter said. "I had some old black-and-white photos from the 1950s, the days of burlesque, and wanted to do a documentary comparing those days with today's exotic dancers.

"Fortunately, I was able to photograph some of the dancers at a local club and will present my work at the New Space Gallery in Portland next month," he said.

Born in Brunswick, Maine, Baxter graduated from Bowdoin College and served in the Maine legislature from 1960 to 1966, rising to majority leader during his second term. After leaving the legislature, he served on the seven-member Governor's Council in Maine.

His family's business was in canning and had the first frozen food plant and contract with Birdseye in 1936.

He has lived at BBR since 1986.

In September he may exhibit his black-and-white large print of Dwight Eisenhower, taken in Maine.

"This was at the time of the U-2 Francis Gary Powers incident with Russia and Ike had been on a fishing trip in Maine," Baxter said.

"He stopped in town and greeted some of the local folks. I took his picture, carefully developed and treated this print so that it still looks good today, nearly 50 years later."

Baxter is straightforward about what he hopes to accomplish with his art.

"My hope is that people will see more than a pretty picture but feel the mystery of how these different people in their different cultures lived before and after I captured them on film," Baxter said.