Frederick C. Baldwin
Frederick C. Baldwin | |
|---|---|
| Born | Frederick C. Baldwin January 25, 1929 Houston, Texas |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of Virginia Columbia University (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | photographer, writer |
| Spouse | Wendy Watriss |
Frederick C. Baldwin (January 25, 1929 – December 15, 2021) was an American photographer. He was the cofounder of FotoFest, a major photography festival in Houston, Texas. He was the husband of Wendy Watriss.[1][2]
Biography
Baldwin was born on Jan. 25, 1929, in
As a student at Columbia, he got to interview Pablo Picasso by writing a letter with his own illustrations that appealed to Picasso's sense of humor.[4] According to Baldwin, the meeting inspired his career in photography, and he began shooting wildlife imagery for Sports Illustrated, Esquire, and National Geographic.[5]
In 1963, Baldwin witnessed a civil rights march in Savannah, Georgia and for the next two years, he volunteered to photograph events for civil rights leader Hosea Williams.[1]
From 1964 to 1966, Baldwin served as a Peace Corps director in Sarawak. After returning to the U.S., he turned his attention to rural poverty Georgia and South Carolina.[1]
In 1970, Baldwin met his future wife and collaborator, Wendy Watriss, who was then a freelance photographer for Newsweek and the New York Times.[6] The next year, Baldwin and Watriss traveled across the country to photograph and write about rural America. The couple first settled in a Texas farm, where they spent 15 years living in a 13-foot trailer for a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded photo and oral history project documenting the rural poor, resulting in a 1991 book Coming to Terms: The German Hill Country of Texas.[7] A collection of his work is stored in the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.[8]
In 1983, Baldwin and his wife co-founded FotoFest in Houston, an arts organization dedicated to giving visibility to photographers from the parts of the world other than Europe and North America and providing biennial exhibition opportunities for photographers beyond established museums and commercial galleries.[9]
In 2019, Baldwin published a memoir, Dear Mr. Picasso: An Illustrated Love Affair With Freedom.[8]
Baldwin died on December 15, 2021, at age 92.[8]
References
- ^ a b c Estrin, James (December 22, 2021). "Frederick Baldwin, Whose Photography Told Stories, Dies at 92". Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2021 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ "Frederick C. Baldwin, co-founder of Houston's FotoFest, remembered for championing 'global vision' of photography". The Art Newspaper – International art news and events. December 20, 2021. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ "Other Deaths Reported". Columbia College Today. 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
- ^ a b "A Meeting with Picasso Changed This Photographer's Life". Columbia College Today. 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
- ^ Caminero, Kelly (2019-09-15). "Fotofest Co-Founder Fred Baldwin's Extraordinary Career Was Inspired by Encounter With Picasso". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
- ^ "In Memoriam: Fred Baldwin, 1929–2021". Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
- ^ "Coming to terms : the German Hill Country of Texas / Photographs by Wendy Watriss and Fred Baldwin ; essay by Lawrence Goodwyn". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
- ^ a b c Dansby, Andrew (2021-12-17). "Obituary: FotoFest founder Fred Baldwin trumpeted the importance of photography". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
- ^ "In Memoriam: Fred Baldwin, 1929–2021". Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
