Biography
Denise Laura Baker is a London-based photographer and artist working across a range of media.
Born in Kent, Denise studied initially as a qualitative and clinical research psychologist, gaining a PhD at Manchester University. Her work was primarily ethnographic with a strong emphasis on authentic story telling and personal narrative. This love for capturing stories was reflected in her early photography. She initially picked up a camera at the age of eleven and began documenting life as it happened; she captured moments of time passing, friends made and lost, her children growing, her life changing and evolving.
In 2009 she switched from psychology to a creative practice. She gained an MA in Creative Writing from Kingston University, and an FdA in Photography from Llandrillo College, North Wales.
Denise has won several awards, most notably winning PX3 State of the World (2021 and 2022) and was named as a notable female photographer in film by Analogue Wonderland.
Her work has been published widely in the press and she has been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions, most holding solo shows at the The Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, Waterside Arts Centre, Sale, Manchester and group shows at hARTslane Gallery, New Cross, London and the PhotoBook Café, London.
Denise is also an educator; delivering workshops and providing mentoring. She has also received funding for community based arts projects through the Arts Council for Wales, Creative Gwynedd, RBKC Creative Grants, The Westway Trust and Imaginary Millions.
She is currently the recipient of Arts Council England funding for a cross London, community arts project and has undertaken a number of photographic commissions. She has work in private collections across the UK.
Artist Statement
Denise Laura Baker is a socially engaged photojournalist, documentary photographer, and multi-media artist. Her work is driven by the desire to tell stories through a variety of materials, interweaving layers of photographs, interviews, text, embroidery and quilting.
In creating collages of materials, she explores the complexity, fragility, passions and flaws that embody humanity. Her storytelling addresses environmental, social, and women’s issues, encompassing themes of connection, identity, transition, change, and loss, aiming to amplify voices often overlooked and create space for marginalized stories. Through intimate interviews and collaborations, she explores the transformative power of personal and collective journeys, particularly in the contexts of climate change, activism, and protest. Her work uncovers untold stories of resilience and resistance, often featured in publications like New Internationalist and Open Democracy, and exhibitions.
Denise’s approach blends her background as both a visual artist and former ethnographic psychologist, fostering deep empathy and understanding of the human experience. She also brings this to her personal projects that explore the impact of trauma, family secrets and hidden stories.
Denise is also an educator; teaching and mentoring, facilitating arts workshops, and creating collaborative community projects. Currently, she is working on a project funded by Arts Council England that reflects women’s experiences of menopause and ageing through story quilts, combining her passions for visual art, community, storytelling and personal projects that aim to inspire reflection, dialogue, and action.