Blog
Artist Profile: Gloria Baker Feinstein
February 24, 2025
“The barbed wire looks like stars stretched across the sky, rising just above the foliage. The vegetation is dense and green. Paths lead to luscious spots of repose where markers describe the views: execution wall, blood ditch, buried ashes.” – Among the Ashes, Gloria Baker Feinstein
Since the young age of two years old, Portland, Oregon-based Jewish photographer Gloria Baker Feinstein had a camera in her hand. As an adult, she works primarily as a portrait and fine art photographer. Feinstein has also been the director of many non-profit organizations and has published several photography books.
This photograph is featured in Feinstein’s book, Among the Ashes, a collection of photographs and journal entries from a trip Feinstein took visiting World War II concentration camps in central Europe. This photograph was taken at a camp in Dachau, Germany, the first stop of her travels. Dachau was the site of the first concentration camp established by the Nazi government in March of 1933. It was located on the site of an abandoned munitions factory with the intent to create forced labor camps. Eventually, Dachau would include 100 sub-camps and would hold over 200,000 prisoners of Jewish, Romani, German, and Austrian descent, as well as other foreign nationals that Germany occupied or invaded. Dachau was the third camp to be liberated by British and American Allied forces, but by the time of their arrival, there had already been over 30,000 documented deaths.
As with other photographs in the book, Feinstein captures images of seemingly normal places, people, and artifacts. Her reflections, stories, and connections in her images ask viewers to find beauty in tragedy. Many of the images show nature attempting to disguise the horrors of what once happened- the ugly secrets of concentration camps. Through her journey to the sites of one of the most horrific historical events the world has ever seen, Feinstein still finds moments of loveliness, silence, peace, and hope. Throughout her images and writings, she reflects on her friends who survived the Holocaust and the heroic way they rebuilt their lives for their children and grandchildren. In Among the Ashes, Feinstein concludes, “The breeze feels good on my face. I look at the land and consider the growth that is all around me. In silence and with reverence, I marvel at the resilience of this place and the resilience of the Jewish people.”
Gloria Baker Feinstein, Execution Wall, Dachau, Germany, carbon piezo print, 2001, GVSU Art Museum Collection, 2004.234.1.