Christopher P. Baker

Acclaimed travel writer and photographer Christopher P. Baker—National Geographic resident ‘Expert’ on Cuba and the Lowell Thomas Award 2008 ‘Travel Journalist of the Year’—has spent a career capturing the world with words and camera. His credits span a spectrum of more than 200 publications, from BBC Travel, CNN Travel, and Conde Nast Traveler, to National Geographic, Playboy, Robb Report, and Travel + Leisure. He maintains a schedule in which he travels the world photographing and reporting on destinations as far afield as Antarctica, Japan, Mozambique, Oman, Scotland, and—most notably—Cuba.

Chris has been hailed by National Geographic as “one of the world’s foremost authorities on Cuba travel and culture.” He has led almost 150 group tours to Cuba on behalf of Jim Cline Photo tours, National Geographic Expeditions, Santa Fe Workshops, and other entities. His eight books about Cuba include the National Geographic Traveler Cuba, Eyewitness Cuba, Moon Cuba, and Top 10 Cuba guidebooks, plus the award-winning coffee-table book Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles. Chris is a prolific featured speaker for conferences, seminars, and professional panels; has spoken about Cuba at the prestigious National Press Club, National Geographic Live, and World Affairs Council; and appears regularly on such outlets as Al Jazeera, CNN, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, Fox News, and MSNBC.

A National Geographic assignment photographer, Chris photographed (and wrote) the National Geographic Traveler Colombia and National Geographic Traveler Costa Rica guidebooks, and also contributed images to (and wrote) the Cuba, Panama, and Dominican Republic guidebooks in the National Geographic Traveler series. He was the update editor and photographer for Japan, Scotland, and other destinations in the National Geographic Traveler series. He has photographed and written almost two dozen other guidebooks for such publishers as Fodor’s, Lonely Planet, etc., and has contributed to numerous coffee-table travel books, plus brochures and catalogs.

In 2026, Chris won bronze as ‘Travel Photographer of the Year’ in the prestigious Society of American Travel Writers’ Bill Muster Photo Awards. His many other awards include multiple golds for people, portrait, and street photography in the Bill Muster Photo Awards and Lowell Thomas Awards, and Gold Prize for “Best Photography: Portrait/People” from the North American Travel Journalists Association for his image of a man and horse in Trinidad, Cuba, published as a double-page spread in National Geographic. Chris’ photography has also been exhibited at the National Geographic Society, in Washington, DC.

His website is http://www.christopherpbaker.com