diff --git a/meerkat/columns/image_column.py b/meerkat/columns/image_column.py
index 353767b93..ee856cead 100644
--- a/meerkat/columns/image_column.py
+++ b/meerkat/columns/image_column.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import logging
+import os
 from typing import Collection, Sequence
 
 from meerkat.columns.abstract import AbstractColumn
@@ -13,22 +14,28 @@
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-class ImageCell(LambdaCell):
+class ImageLoaderMixin:
+    def fn(self, filepath: str):
+        if self.base_dir is not None:
+            filepath = os.path.join(self.base_dir, filepath)
+        image = self.loader(filepath)
+        if self.transform is not None:
+            image = self.transform(image)
+        return image
+
+
+class ImageCell(ImageLoaderMixin, LambdaCell):
     def __init__(
         self,
         transform: callable = None,
         loader: callable = None,
         data: str = None,
+        base_dir: str = None,
     ):
         self.loader = self.default_loader if loader is None else loader
         self.transform = transform
         self._data = data
-
-    def fn(self, filepath: str):
-        image = self.loader(filepath)
-        if self.transform is not None:
-            image = self.transform(image)
-        return image
+        self.base_dir = base_dir
 
     def __eq__(self, other):
         return (
@@ -45,12 +52,13 @@ def __repr__(self):
         return f"ImageCell({short_path}, transform={transform})"
 
 
-class ImageColumn(LambdaColumn):
+class ImageColumn(ImageLoaderMixin, LambdaColumn):
     def __init__(
         self,
         data: Sequence[str] = None,
         transform: callable = None,
         loader: callable = None,
+        base_dir: str = None,
         *args,
         **kwargs,
     ):
@@ -59,15 +67,15 @@ def __init__(
         super(ImageColumn, self).__init__(data, *args, **kwargs)
         self.loader = self.default_loader if loader is None else loader
         self.transform = transform
+        self.base_dir = base_dir
 
     def _create_cell(self, data: object) -> ImageCell:
-        return ImageCell(data=data, loader=self.loader, transform=self.transform)
-
-    def fn(self, filepath: str):
-        image = self.loader(filepath)
-        if self.transform is not None:
-            image = self.transform(image)
-        return image
+        return ImageCell(
+            data=data,
+            loader=self.loader,
+            transform=self.transform,
+            base_dir=self.base_dir,
+        )
 
     @classmethod
     def from_filepaths(
@@ -75,6 +83,7 @@ def from_filepaths(
         filepaths: Sequence[str],
         loader: callable = None,
         transform: callable = None,
+        base_dir: str = None,
         *args,
         **kwargs,
     ):
@@ -82,6 +91,7 @@ def from_filepaths(
             data=filepaths,
             loader=loader,
             transform=transform,
+            base_dir=base_dir,
             *args,
             **kwargs,
         )
@@ -92,7 +102,11 @@ def default_loader(cls, *args, **kwargs):
 
     @classmethod
     def _state_keys(cls) -> Collection:
-        return (super()._state_keys() | {"transform", "loader"}) - {"fn"}
+        return (super()._state_keys() | {"transform", "loader", "base_dir"}) - {"fn"}
+
+    def _set_state(self, state: dict):
+        state["base_dir"] = state.get("base_dir", None)  # backwards compatibility
+        super()._set_state(state)
 
     def is_equal(self, other: AbstractColumn) -> bool:
         return (
diff --git a/tests/meerkat/columns/test_image_column.py b/tests/meerkat/columns/test_image_column.py
index 448ed8d8a..5f2acc70f 100644
--- a/tests/meerkat/columns/test_image_column.py
+++ b/tests/meerkat/columns/test_image_column.py
@@ -26,13 +26,14 @@
 
 class ImageColumnTestBed(AbstractColumnTestBed):
 
-    DEFAULT_CONFIG = {"transform": [True, False]}
+    DEFAULT_CONFIG = {"transform": [True, False], "use_base_dir": [True, False]}
 
     def __init__(
         self,
         tmpdir: str,
         length: int = 16,
         transform: bool = False,
+        use_base_dir: bool = False,
         seed: int = 123,
     ):
         self.image_paths = []
@@ -42,18 +43,28 @@ def __init__(
 
         transform = to_tensor if transform else None
 
+        self.base_dir = tmpdir if use_base_dir else None
+
         for i in range(0, length):
-            self.image_paths.append(os.path.join(tmpdir, "{}.png".format(i)))
             self.image_arrays.append((i * np.ones((4, 4, 3))).astype(np.uint8))
             im = Image.fromarray(self.image_arrays[-1])
             self.ims.append(im)
             self.data.append(transform(im) if transform else im)
-            im.save(self.image_paths[-1])
+            filename = "{}.png".format(i)
+            im.save(os.path.join(tmpdir, filename))
+            if use_base_dir:
+                self.image_paths.append(filename)
+            else:
+                self.image_paths.append(os.path.join(tmpdir, filename))
+
         if transform is not None:
             self.data = torch.stack(self.data)
         self.transform = transform
         self.col = ImageColumn.from_filepaths(
-            self.image_paths, transform=transform, loader=folder.default_loader
+            self.image_paths,
+            transform=transform,
+            loader=folder.default_loader,
+            base_dir=self.base_dir,
         )
 
     def get_map_spec(
@@ -172,6 +183,7 @@ def get_data(self, index, materialize: bool = True):
                     data=self.image_paths[index],
                     loader=self.col.loader,
                     transform=self.col.transform,
+                    base_dir=self.base_dir,
                 )
             index = np.arange(len(self.data))[index]
             return PandasSeriesColumn([self.image_paths[idx] for idx in index])
diff --git a/tests/meerkat/test_datapanel.py b/tests/meerkat/test_datapanel.py
index 78eeba304..49a106534 100644
--- a/tests/meerkat/test_datapanel.py
+++ b/tests/meerkat/test_datapanel.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ def __init__(
         self,
         column_configs: Dict[str, AbstractColumn],
         consolidated: bool = True,
-        length: int = 16,
+        length: int = 4,
         tmpdir: str = None,
     ):
         self.column_testbeds = self._build_column_testbeds(