Noted photographer and co-founder of FotoFest, Fred Baldwin has recently published his memoir, Dear Mr. Picasso: An Illustrated Love Affair with Freedom. The book begins with Baldwin’s encounter with Pablo Picasso in 1955, a life-changing event that emboldened Baldwin to embrace a peripatetic life as a photojournalist. He spent the next few decades making remarkable “picture stories,” at times at great personal risk. His adventures led him to locations where few or no photographers had gone before.

Baldwin’s book is generously illustrated with hundreds of black-and-white and color photographs from his vast archive. A highly engaging speaker, Baldwin will share images and recount some of the extraordinary experiences of his illustrious career. Copies of the book will be available for purchase, and a book signing will immediately follow the lecture.

Read The New York Times review of Dear Mr. Picasso.

About the Photographer/Author:
Fred Baldwin was born in 1929 in Switzerland where his father served as a United States diplomat. A Marine rifleman, Baldwin was wounded and decorated twice during the Korean War. After earning his BA from Columbia College, New York in 1956, he began a freelance photography career that continued until 1987. Baldwin worked for LIFE, National Geographic, GEO, STERN, Esquire, and Sports Illustrated, among others. He and his wife and long-time collaborator, Wendy Watriss, have lived in a bungalow owned by the Menil Foundation since 1980. Together they co-founded FotoFest in 1983 with Petra Benteler, and Baldwin continues to serve as its Chairman.

This program is free and open to the public; seating is available on a first-come first-serve basis. Further information regarding accessibility and parking can be found here.

The book is available now for purchase at the Menil Collection Bookstore. Remember: Menil members always receive a discount on bookstore purchases.