73.
May 12, 1949: Ever since I took up photography, I have been interested
in making a straightforward record of how people live. These women were
members of the Severn River Garden Club, and they were selling their flowers
in front of the courthouse in Annapolis. They had no idea they were being
photographed; their expressions are so natural and unposed. I was using
a Rolliflex, a camera I didn't like that much because it required looking
down to belt level, which limited the perspective. In a case like this,
though, it was a real asset because the angle is exactly where the action
is, so it adds drama to the picture. MSA SC 1890-02-30,176
74.
1955: I was the official photographer for the Maryland Port Authority for
quite a few years. This was an early view from a helicopter of Baltimore
harbor looking northwest toward downtown. Compared to the skyline today,
this makes a dramatic record of just how much the city has changed, and
of how differently we use the harbor area. MSA SC 1890-03-13,787
75.
1955 circa: I probably took this photograph for Historic Annapolis. They
used to have me go up and down Main Street to document the various buildings
and their signs. This storefront was a holdover from the thirties or forties,
and a rare style of architecture for Annapolis. When Labovitz closed, the
second floor window was closed in, though you can see traces of it even
today. Now, a picture like this takes on a lot of nostalgia. MSA SC 1890-02-30,138A
76.
1957 circa: I don't know why I took this aerial view of Parole; probably
it was commissioned by some developer. It's a remarkable view of the area
before the shopping centers took over. Route 50 was completed, but the
old racetrack was still on the site of Parole Shopping Center, and the
drive-in theatre was where Hechinger's is now. Moreland Parkway and Jennifer
Road were dense woods. The intimate detail is lost when you get this far
away from your subject, but there's nothing like an aerial to show the
big picture. MSA SC 1890-02-101
77.
1958: Shopping centers and the growth of the suburbs had a tremendous effect
on city life in the fifties. I did a lot of work for the Rouse Company,
photographing their projects around the country. This is Harundale Mall,
the first air-conditioned shopping center in the United States. A view
like this is a real challenge because you have to wait long enough for
people to get bored and stop looking at the camera. I covered every aspect
of Harundale, from planning to construction to opening day, when they had
me do a series of aerials all day even though it was raining, so they could
count the cars and see what kind of crowd they had attracted. MSA SC 1890-02-13,286
78.
1958 circa: Friendship Airport was named for the town it swallowed up.
I always thought it was an appropriate name after the war, but the building
was never as nice as its name; it was obsolete-looking even when it was
built. I was there when Harry Truman came to officiate at its opening.
This picture was taken to symbolize the jet age coming to Baltimore. MSA
SC 1890-02-10,140
79.
July 24, 1962: I documented every street and building in the Charles Center
area of Baltimore before anything was torn down. No one paid me to do it;
I just felt it had to be done. I did the same thing around the Inner Harbor
area, though that time I was paid well for my efforts. I have hundreds
of pictures from this era, both on the ground and from the air as the buildings
started going up. I've always wanted to do an exhibit of these photographs;
I think it would create a lot of interest. This is the corner of Liberty
and Fayette streets. You can see the construction of One Charles Center
there on the left. MSA SC 1890-03-10,162
80.
March 31, 1965: I was up in a helicopter over the Jones Falls Expressway
doing a story on traffic reporting for Baltimore magazine when I
took this picture. I thought they should use it on the cover, but the editor
didn't like it because the traffic helicopter didn't appear in it. I sold
it to the engineers who built the interchange though, and it appeared in
numerous other publications. MSA SC 1890-03-1725
81.
1969: I was wandering around taking pictures for Charles Center-Inner Harbor
Management when I came across this scene in an alley off of Hanover Street.
It was just around the corner from the Church of the Living God (11). I
realized that these were the homes of street arabs when I saw the broken-down
wagon. I thought the old gnarly tree was a good symbol for the hard life
of the peddlers. MSA SC 1890-03-10,205A
82.
May 12, 1977: United States Fidelity & Guaranty commissioned me to
make a portrait of their new corporate headquarters in Baltimore. I shot
it from the air, from across the water, and at night, but I still wasn't
satisfied. I decided I wanted to get it from the roof of the Suburban Trust
Bank, a nearby seven-story building. I told the bank manager that I needed
to get up there early in the morning on a clear day when there was no wind.
He arranged for the maintenance man to let me in. When the right day came,
I was on the roof and set up by 7:30. I knew I wanted to get the Bromo
Seltzer tower in, so I was standing on the ledge, with one leg of the tripod
down on the trim of the building. Of course, to focus, I needed to put
a black cloth over my head. That's why I didn't want any wind. MSA SC1890-03-10,166A
83.
October 27, 1978: Most of the time, when I did aerials of Charles Center
I shot it from the opposite direction. I like this angle, though, because
you can see the shape of the harbor. The backlighting on the buildings
adds more texture and emphasis to the buildings. MSA SC 1890-03-3755-9
84.
September 1981: This is a conversion to black and white from a 35mm color
slide. I think it's an important perspective because it emphasizes the
vertical aspects of downtown, and you can see clearly many of the city's
key buildings in 1981. The aquarium is under construction in the foreground.
It's a view that shows the sparkling new city on the harbor that Baltimore
has become. MSA SC 1890-03-4309-1
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