Take a Photo, It’ll Last Longer; WWC Says Goodbye to Eric Baden
Quinn Bonney | December 9, 2021
Quinn Bonney
Baden posing for a photo behind Holden arts center.
For almost three decades, Eric Baden has served as a photography and arts professor at Warren Wilson College (WWC). Students may know Baden as the articulate, inventful professor whose knowledge and experience in photography spans far before his time at Wilson.
This December, Baden will retire from WWC, likely to continue his photography adventures elsewhere. This will be rough for the Wilson photography community as they must bid adieu to their beloved professor.
Before Baden moved to Asheville to begin his WWC career, he lived in Boston, frequently moving back and forth between Mexico and Massachusetts.
“When I lived in Mexico, I was taking photographs in an interesting, high desert plain in central Mexico,” Baden said. “The last year I was there, I was always wandering in the landscape, bringing things back, setting them up and photographing them. That led to setting things up and leaving them as objects in addition to taking photographs and making sculptures. So when I moved to Asheville I got a job in a scrapyard, to have a job, but also just have access to materials.”
Prior to moving here, Baden had never heard of WWC. After a few years of working in the scrap yard and making sculptures, Baden started working at Wilson as an adjunct professor, then later part-time. Since joining he contributes his success to two key factors.
Quinn Bonney
Baden instructing his Photography I class on what the final project will be.
“What I would say is two things that really attracted me to this place when I moved here … and have had a hold on me ever since are the students and the valley,” Baden said. “Coming to that valley to work is special. … What a beautiful thing. It’s the place and the people in that sense. Wilson students were unusual, and they still are — I would have been gone long before this if they weren’t. That's what I'm going to miss the most.”
Looking back through his experience as an adjunct, Baden recalls one of his favorite memories.
“There are a lot of favorite memories,” he said. “One kind of silly thing that stands out is we used to do this parade at the end of the year — faculty, staff, and students. I had moved here from Mexico in my 1959 Chevrolet Apache pickup truck which I only sold a few years ago. … I remember joining the parade in that truck with the dean at the time, Virginia McKinley, who just wanted to ride in that truck. I’m sure we had a bunch of students in the back but I just thought it was great to be an adjunct driving around the dean of the college.”
Baden comments that he fell in love with the college over the years, emphasizing his appreciation for the community, and how unusual and non-traditional the students here are.
“I’ve come to appreciate the community at large and my colleagues in the department,” Baden said. “The entire time I've been here, we've benefited from being serious, committed and open. We love each other. That, too, is unusual in many circumstances. It’s been a real blessing.”
Baden believes the most gratifying part of his job is seeing what his students do down the road.
“ … In photography, in the arts and in life,” he said. “Not necessarily in that order or all three. That's what’s been really gratifying.”
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Baden attempting to attach himself to the clothes line.
Baden is always someone to offer a helping hand or knowledgeable advice. Whether it be in photography, day to day life experiences, or fashion advice, like how to pair a colorful tie with a newsboy cap, Baden always has the wisdom and makes time to guide community members.
He leaves Wilson with a final message:
“Take care of yourselves and take care of each other,” Baden said. “And I mean that sincerely. I think it’s important in the world and a place like this. Taking care of yourselves and each other also extends to this community, setting and environment. I think that Wilson oftentimes really supported and cultivated that — it’s essential. Before COVID, we weren't really encouraged to stop and take a breath, and evaluate; you’re looking at college and how much it costs, and how it's going to prepare you to make a living and all that. Things become oriented in that way. I’m not saying those are important or not important, but I do think there is a benefit of this place, community and the people who are here. It’s a part of the benefit of being a liberal arts college, where your understanding is built on things that are broader and more far reaching. That’s so important … Other than that, don’t forget to turn in your equipment and don’t forget to clean up after yourselves.”