Baker “Life Through the Lens” Student Photography Contest Winners Announced
October 24, 2025
The University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs is proud to announce the winners of the Howard Baker “Life Through the Lens” Student Photography Contest.
The competition is part of the Baker School’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of Senator Howard H. Baker Jr.’s birth on Nov. 15, 1925. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, students were invited to submit photographs in four categories: community, people, history in motion, and personal reflection.
Faculty judges from the School of Art selected 11 winning images. Each student photographer received a $200 prize.
The winners are:
- Gwen Aguilar, senior studio art major
- Blaine Atkins, junior management major
- Evely Baker, senior art major
- Jed Baso, sophomore finance major
- Lillian Renee Call, senior studio art major
- Ethan Garnier, junior biological sciences major
- Miles Alan Lineberger, sophomore business management major
- Jen Martinex Mendez, senior geography major
- Campbell Row, senior cinema studies major
- Ava Sabatini, junior ecology and evolutionary biology major
- Ven Zhu, Master of Fine Arts candidate
The students’ work will be displayed alongside Baker’s own photography at the Knoxville Museum of Art through Dec. 14. The exhibition highlights Baker’s lesser-known passion for photography. It features original images he took in Japan during his service as a U.S. senator and ambassador.
About the Howard H. Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs
The Howard H. Baker, Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, prepares skilled public problem solvers, grounded in the legacy of Howard H. Baker, Jr., and prepared to take leadership roles in their communities. The first and only institution of its kind in Tennessee, the Baker School offers academic programs, research opportunities, and outreach initiatives that foster thoughtful dialogue and informed decision-making at the local, national, and global levels. For more information, visit baker.UTK.edu.