Bay Photographic Works® is a creative production studio specializing in compelling artistic and educational resources—photobooks, museum exhibits, video installations, and teaching tools—to increase understanding of America’s story. 

With a multi-disciplinary expertise in fine arts, photographic imagery, and public policy, the studio develops research-driven works for non-profits, theaters, museums, educational organizations, authors, and cultural institutions seeking innovative ways to use historical narratives to address significant societal issues.

Created by an artist and commercial photographer turned public policy attorney, the studio utilizes its knowledge of fine arts, documentary practice, and cultural insights to create works that are emotionally resonant and grounded in scholarship and social context.

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Our Founder

Bay Photographic Works was founded by Jeff McGuiness whose background brings together a variety of skills—art, public policy, nonprofit leadership, and a love of history and the lessons it teaches.

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Our Team

We tap of variety of skill sets depending on the needs of the client. Those primarily involved are members of the Bear Me Into Freedom Collaborative.

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Our Focus 

Our interdisciplinary approach gives us a unique understanding of how art, public policy, and historical memory intersect to focus on overlooked aspects of America’s story. We use those skills to transform history into powerful visual and auditory experiences using:

• Immersive video installations
• Photobooks
• Museum exhibits and interpretive displays
• Educational materials and experiences

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Our Inspiration

Bay Photographic Works and those involved in it are located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, long considered a land apart. Founded on tobacco and bondage, the Shore prospered early, then wore itself thin, its soil depleted and its people spent. As the nation’s economic momentum shifted south and west, it slipped from the main current of America’s growth. What it lost in prominence, it gained in stillness—an accidental preservation that left behind a place where the past remains unusually present, carried in the land, the labor it once demanded, and the lives shaped by both.

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Our Values

• Historical Integrity — We honor the past through rigorous research, responsible storytelling and insistence on the recognition of historical context.
• Artistic Excellence — Every project is crafted with care, creativity, and attention to emotional impact.
• Community Collaboration — We work closely with community leaders, authors, museums, educators, and descendants to ensure authenticity and respect.
• ‍Educational Purpose — Our work is designed to deepen understanding and enrich learning across generations.