Marengo woman wins award, placement in international art magazine

MARENGO – Teresa Baber had put down her camera for years before picking it up again.

Holding off on her hobby to get married, raise two daughters, and manage a picture-framing store, the Marengo photographer finally returned to the darkroom four years ago.

“I just decided one day to sign up for a class at [McHenry County College] and do the darkroom thing, and it was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’ve set it aside for so long,’ ” Baber said. “It’s all I wanted to do then.”

Since immersing herself back into her art, Baber’s work has been featured in local galleries, national shows, and most recently, the August issue of Black & White Magazine. She was awarded a spot in the renowned international art photography publication for a captivating portfolio she submitted of a series of cemeteries.

“I just find that typically, people think of cemeteries as a real sad place or kind of morbid,” Baber said. “But I find them to be very beautiful.”

“There’s a lot of history, a lot of symbolism, so that’s kind of what attracted me to them,” Baber said.

Four selections printed in the magazine feature scenes from cemeteries in Barrington, Greenwood and Chicago. But Baber has traveled all over – from Woodstock to St. Louis – to capture photos for the ongoing series.

“They’re pretty unique images because it’s something that I do with selective focus,” she added.

The portfolio won Baber a Merit Award from Black & White Magazine, which has 35,000 subscribers worldwide and is available on newsstands in 50 countries. She was one of 80 artists chosen to be featured in the recent special edition out of 837 entries and 1,270 portfolios.

Baber – who typically shoots landscape and nature scenes – will focus a bit closer to home for her next project, which has a working title of “Dreamscapes of McHenry County.”

By using an infrared setting inside the camera body, she said, she plans to present an atypical view of notable local landmarks, such as the Todd School for Boys in Woodstock.

Baber hopes to have that work later featured in the Raue Center for the Arts in Crystal Lake, where she last had a show in 2007 for a collection of macro floral images.

“I’m excited about the new series for McHenry County,” Baber said. “When I’ve got my camera in my hand, I just get lost.”