John Baeder
American, b. 1938
The interest in small towns across America began when he was young by photographing old cars and other relics with a Baby Brownie camera. While attending Auburn University in the late 1950s, he made frequent trips between Atlanta and Alabama, which drew his attention to rural landscapes and roadside diners. He started working as an art director in Atlanta for a branch of a New York advertising agency in 1960, and subsequently moved to New York City in 1964. He went on to have a successful career in advertising through the early 1970s, while continuing to paint, draw and photograph on his own time.
One of his ad agency offices in New York City was located near the Museum of Modern Art. The museum’s photograph department became a source of inspiration for him, especially the work of artists such as Berenice Abbott, Walker Evans, Ben Shahn, and other photographers of the Farm Security Administration. In the late 1960s he also started collecting postcards of roadside America such as diners, gas stations, campsites, and motels.
Baeder left the advertising field in 1972 to pursue his artistic career full-time.
Person TypeIndividual
