Nicholson Baker’s portraits of suffering

Author-turned-portraitist Nicholson Baker debuted his portrait collection “Bear Witness to Palestine” last week with Writers & Books at Hinterland Studio in Rochester’s High Falls district. 

The collection features 14 portraits, each capturing the raw emotions of activists and victims of the war in Gaza. The collection will be on view until Oct. 18. 

Baker, who was born in New York City but grew up in Rochester and spent a year at the Eastman School of Music, is a novelist and essayist whose works include his first novel, “The Mezzanine,” which drew on his memories of Midtown Plaza, and “Double Fold,” a nonfiction book that won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2001. He began his journey as a portraitist in 2019 after finishing a book on Cold War secrets, “Baseless.”

“It was dark and a downer; I wanted to do something more positive,” he says. “So, in my next book I wanted to write about the process of learning to draw.” 

For the next three years, Baker shifted from practicing landscapes to capturing the likeness of people. Like every beginner artist, he found it a challenge, 

“At first I really couldn’t do it,” he says.  

It was the act of unraveling something and examining its wholeness that brought him joy. A tear in the eye or the jovial smile a person wore—emotions changed how Baker thought about people and portraits became his personal record of them. He drew people he admired, requests from followers and, later in 2024, individuals impacted by the war in Gaza and activists supporting Palestine.

“It grew out of drawing a thank you or praise,” Baker observes, “to reflect on people’s faces who are suffering.” 

“Bear Witness to Palestine” records the cruel reality of the attacks. 

“As an observer witnessing something that is immensely difficult to accept,” Baker says. “The annihilation (of) the Palestine people. The world woke up.” 

Among the 14 works is one of Abu Mohammed, a displaced Palestinian man living in a tent in Gaza; it’s Baker’s favorite. Mohammed’s son was killed by a drone; in an interview with Turkish Radio and Television, he said, “I apologize to you, I wish I could make you a cup of tea and host you.” Despite losing his son, he wept that he could not host his visitors in his tent. 

“If you look closely, I tried hard to capture the tear in his eye,” Baker says.

Baker’s artwork illuminates Mohammed’s grief in the shine of his tear. His artwork captivates the observer and invites reflection. Other portraits in the gallery highlight activists, those who put themselves at risk. 

Nearly 30 individuals attended the opening event to see both Baker’s work and other artists and poets. In Baker’s section, the last collection hanging on the wall, attendees lingered at the Abu Mohammed portrait. “I see the gleam and tear in his eyes,” said an attendee. 

While Baker was not in attendance, his collection includes closing remarks: “I am not an expert; I just have a feeling to have on record as a witness and let the faces and words of people speak for itself.”

Kayla Gullage is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and a member of the Oasis Project’s third cohort.

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