Everett Baker's Saskatchewan: Portraits of an Era

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Everett Baker's photographs of Saskatchewan and its people taken during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s are worth a million!

Unlike the black and white photos that typically document the era, they are as colourful as a flax field in bloom.

Everett Baker's Saskatchewan is a book filled with photos of the province as Baker saw it starting in 1937, when he traveled from town to town as a field man for the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. With his German-made 35mm Leica camera, Baker took Kodachrome colour slide pictures of the people, towns, and farms he visited, immortalizing a unique chapter in Saskatchewan's history. It was the golden age of the co-operative movement in the province, as well as a time of change with the rise of Tommy Douglas's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation government. The old world was slipping into the shadow of the new, and Baker was there to capture it before it disappeared altogether.

University of Saskatchewan historian Bill Waiser has selected and compiled photographs from Everett Baker's unique vision into the first ever book-form showcase of this exceptional photographer's work.

"Baker's photographic documentation of the province in the mid-20th century is a national treasure," says Waiser. "He set out to photograph the co-operative movement but he did not stop there. During his long days on the road, Baker used his camera to capture the diverse Saskatchewan landscape through the seasons. He coaxed people to pose for him."

In Baker's time, Saskatchewan suffered from severe decline in the international demand for wheat and a prolonged drought. He saw the suffering of refugees. He knew a Saskatchewan that lacked electricity and indoor toilets. Baker documented a lifestyle where seven out of every 10 still lived in a rural setting.

"What is most striking about these images, aside from the richness of their colour and the skillful use of light, are the happy, smiling faces. He could see things like no one else with a camera. He had an uncanny skill to set the scene. He caught people in everyday life and everyday activities and people wanted to have their picture taken by him."