Howard Baum

Born in Union, New Jersey to Burt & Sonya Baum on February 28, 1966, Howard has remained true to his creative nature ever since. He moved to Miami with his family when he was eight, and in as many years later, was an internationally published freelance photographer. In 1982, at the age of sixteen, Howard became the youngest photographer ever allowed ringside and backstage access to the then very-closed world of professional wrestling. Soon after, his photos could be seen in every major wrestling publication in the US, UK, and Japan for years to come. The ‘90s saw Howard form Renaissance Productions, which led to his hosting and producing various TV commercials, industrial videos, and pilots emanating from the happening South Beach scene. Currently, Howard is busy earning his Masters in Clinical Psychology, and has recently completed work on several book projects, including a coffee-table book of his wrestling work – Keepin’ it Real – the Old-School Wrestling Photography of Howard Baum, and his psycho-spiritual call to self-actualization - Who the Hell Do You Think You Are? Self-taught on the guitar (favoring anything by Jimmy Page & sleazy blues-rock), as well as an avid collector of antique African art and vintage guitars and amps, Howard is excited for this opportunity to present his old photos in a new frame.

Artist’s Statement

I have always been personally, deeply offended by mediocrity.

In today’s society, listening to or looking at something that arouses real human emotion is virtually nonexistent. It is a world of fast food, disposable entertainment, and money-driven values. Conformity is encouraged, and sometimes ruthlessly enforced.

Anybody who submits their work for public approval – from the writer who toils endlessly to the stripper who bares her goods for fame and financial reward – should be held to a standard of excellence. You’re putting it out there, so it had better be pretty damn entertaining. Why spend all that time and energy mastering the guitar if you’re just going to serve us up another version of Mustang Sally?

The only thing that surpasses my disdain for the ordinary, and those who insist on peddling and consuming it, is my lifelong attraction to what lies beyond the well-beaten path - the unusual, the new, the freakish, the underbelly.

My work strives for what Werner Herzog calls ‘the ecstatic truth’ - that moment when the work connects with the viewer and re-awakens a long-dormant part of our repressed psyche. In other words, it reminds us what it’s like to feel human again.

I hold my art to the same jaded standard that I employ everywhere else – surprise me, and make me feel.