St Eubrie: APW – Randall Baker (1855-1881) (774 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.86 on 31 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Jack McCallum (View user info) at 2006-08-09 16:40:28 EDT
Little was known of photographer Randall Baker during his prime, and he remains a vague figure today.
Baker was born on the banks of Turkey Creek, received little formal education, and left Cross Plains, Texas at the age of 16.
In one of the few statements made about his youth Baker once said, "Grampa always called me 'an impatient, foul-mouthed gambler and womanizer.' He began describing me in such a fashion when I was 14 years old."
There is no record of his wanderings until he appears in New York City in 1874, a young man with a considerable amount of cash, and a camera. Citing Matthew Brady as his influence, Baker set out to record "Monuments of small town life, fast disappearing within the evermore quick-paced and increasingly mechanized hells that are our growing metropolises." He wanted to make this quest his life's work.
Baker was fond of saying, "I will live long, forever and more, lest I catch the devil's eye and make him sore."
Baker left behind roughly 400 photographs, now in the Library of Congress. His pictures are simple ones, each bearing a stark beauty. Country homes and barns and silos and churches, buildings lost to time.
We will never know what happened to Baker in 1881, but on September 3rd of that year his camera and tripod were found in the east end of St Eubrie, in front of the Desange Mortuary & Crematory, the subject of his last photograph, reproduced below.
The wooden feet of Baker's tripod were charred, as if they had been set down in a fire, and the camera lens was scratched and cracked. The photographic plate was intact, however, and the image upon it was presumably the last thing Baker ever saw, a single clue in an enduring mystery.
User Reviews
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2006-11-01 23:52:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Maltese (user info) at 2006-10-25 22:04:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'd been Googling this guy FOREVER... now I find out he's not real.
I HATE YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH
Submitted by Snalty (user info) at 2006-08-19 14:40:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Good idea! This could go so many different ways.
Submitted by nrduncan (user info) at 2006-08-14 17:39:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-08-10 19:41:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-09 21:24:04 (#)
Ranking: 0
Everything you ever wanted to know about MouthSore
User id: 28122
Registered on or around: 2006-08-05 16:20:13
# Messages posted: 0
# Reviews written: 11
# Times these posts have been reviewed : 0
# Hits: 0
Average rating of all messages: 0.00
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Just call me Roach Motel.
I attract all the vermin in ubersite.
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you're gonna have to share that prize with me, bub.
Submitted by whysenheimer (user info) at 2006-08-10 13:17:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Sorry. Stuck on launch pad due to inclement weather.
Re-commence countdown...
Submitted by sicosemen (user info) at 2006-08-10 09:57:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by awesome_face (user info) at 2006-08-09 23:31:50 (#)
Ranking: 2
I drew a picture like that once in kindergarten
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This made me laugh.
Submitted by ColchesterDr (user info) at 2006-08-10 02:26:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-08-10 01:14:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Cool idea.
Submitted by awesome_face (user info) at 2006-08-09 23:31:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I drew a picture like that once in kindergarten
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2006-08-09 21:34:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
my love for you is ticking clock BERSERKER
Now I'm going to let the kitten walk on the keyboard READY GO 0
],,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,8
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-09 21:24:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Everything you ever wanted to know about MouthSore
User id: 28122
Registered on or around: 2006-08-05 16:20:13
# Messages posted: 0
# Reviews written: 11
# Times these posts have been reviewed : 0
# Hits: 0
Average rating of all messages: 0.00
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Just call me Roach Motel.
I attract all the vermin in ubersite.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2006-08-09 21:13:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Check yer e-mail.
Submitted by MouthSore (user info) at 2006-08-09 19:54:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
No Comment
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2006-08-09 19:17:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
He fell in to a burnin ring of fire...
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-09 18:09:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-08-09 17:59:53 (#)
Ranking: 2
It simple Jack...
I've decided I'm going to have to kill you so that I can eat your flesh and absorb your talents and abilities.
Um, your rotting remains can keep the political ideas, though...
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You FOOL! How do you know I do NOT have a certain William David Saunders (born February 17, 1971, in Coquitlam, British Columbia, husband of Maria Esquivel Saunders, father of Francis Daniel -Frank to his friends- and Eloise -Ellie- Saunders) caged in my basement, forcing him to write stories with which he barters for food, water, sunlight, you know, the little things in life.
You want to eat his flesh, go ahead. I haven't let him bathe since late 2004.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-08-09 17:59:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It simple Jack...
I've decided I'm going to have to kill you so that I can eat your flesh and absorb your talents and abilities.
Um, your rotting remains can keep the political ideas, though...
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2006-08-09 17:53:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
NOTICE!
The filename relates to the story.
Submitted by houseman (user info) at 2006-08-09 17:47:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Jack you amaze me.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-09 17:19:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-08-09 17:06:55 (#)
Ranking: 2
Jack, I'm just curious...
Can you feel my seething hatred through the computer?
My intense jealousy and envy?
**sigh**
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??? ???? ?? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?
? ? ???? ??? ?? ?? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ????? ?
?? ??? ????? ?????????????? ?? ????? ??.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-09 17:18:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by extacy_red (user info) at 2006-08-09 17:00:29 (#)
Ranking: 2
was he actually a real photographer, i like that picture.
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No, the whole this is total BS.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-08-09 17:06:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Jack, I'm just curious...
Can you feel my seething hatred through the computer?
My intense jealousy and envy?
**sigh**
Submitted by BobLobla (user info) at 2006-08-09 17:04:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by extacy_red (user info) at 2006-08-09 17:00:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
was he actually a real photographer, i like that picture.
Submitted by GodChicken (user info) at 2006-08-09 16:59:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
is that.....
an angry tree?
Jack, I'd like to talk to you actually. Directly. The.GodChicken.at.gmail.com
Submitted by inion_de_trua (user info) at 2006-08-09 16:53:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
that makes me think of that dude that was wandering in the wildnerness and got mauled by bears while his video recorded the sound of him being eaten.
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2006-08-09 16:53:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It looks like someone took that picture on an Amiga, which would make in a true antique!
Submitted by whysenheimer (user info) at 2006-08-09 16:48:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-09 16:41:37 (#)
Ranking: 0
Countdown to retaliatory -2 from whysenheimer. 10...9...8...
Your psy-ops training will not work on me, Herr McRectum!
SHIT!
Why must you always win?!
I'll get you, Red Rectummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
mmmmmmm
mmm
mm
m!
Submitted by KindaNews (user info) at 2006-08-09 16:44:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice change of pace.
Submitted by Susie_Derkins (user info) at 2006-08-09 16:44:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
That picture is awesome, the subject matter and quality all contribute to the mood.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-08-09 16:41:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Countdown to retaliatory -2 from whysenheimer. 10...9...8...