25.
1948: When we first moved to Annapolis, I used to wander around looking
for good human interest subjects to photograph. I heard there was going
to be a parade on Clay Street, so I set up my camera in the middle of the
street and waited for the band to come over the hill. These people were
watching me, and, of course, I was watching them and realized they made
a great composition. When the band finally arrived they stopped paying
attention to me; I turned the camera and shot this one negative, folded
up my equipment and went home. It was the only picture I entered in the
Graphlex Picture of the Year contest and it won. MSA SC 1890-02-30,285
26.
1949: This was the pier used for unloading oysters from buy boats at City
Dock. It didn't last too much longer after this photograph was made. In
the distance is Horn Point and the Edwin and Maud. The ram was once
a lumber ship, but by this time it had been converted into a pleasure boat
that took passengers on week-long cruises on the Bay. MSA SC 1890-02-534
27.
1949: It's not easy to be unobtrusive with a camera the size of a Speedgraphic,
but when I saw this shot, I set up quickly before they even noticed I was
there. I think it's an early example of my preference for unposed portraits
where the subjects are unaware of the camera. The subjects were Bill Labrot,
Judge Ben Michaelson (in hat), and Police Chief Curry; they were chatting
over the fence in front of the county courthouse. MSA SC 1890-02-30,151
28.
1950 circa: I did the photography for the 1949 yearbook at St. John's College,
and the next year they asked me to do a view book to help recruit students.
I remember carefully composing this shot, waiting for spring so that the
leaves would just be breaking, and positioning the students to give balance
and scale to what is really a portrait of the Liberty Tree--an important
symbol for the school. MSA SC 1890-02-28
29.
1952: Richard Nixon came to Annapolis numerous times; this time, he was
campaigning to be vice-president. If you're covering a news event for the
next day's papers, you get up close and shoot the important personalities.
But when it's no longer a hot news item, it's the long view that really
tells the story and conveys the atmosphere of the occasion. MSA SC 1890-02-30,229A
30.
1952: I was always looking for a fresh perspective, especially for a cliched
subject like parades at the Naval Academy. I was on a six-foot aluminum
ladder to make this shot. Sometimes a close-up of a detail is more dramatic
than the whole, but it conveys the same message. MSA SC 1890-02-1551
31.
1953 circa: Mary and I were charter members of Historic Annapolis, Inc.
Over the years I've made thousands of photographs for them; this record
of a boat tour of the city is among the earliest. I deliberately got above
the people's heads so they wouldn't obstruct the skyline, but having them
in the picture was equally important. The man pointing is Col. Charles
Emory, the first president of H. A. MSA SC 1890-02-30,177H
32.
1953: The Craft Shop at 64 State Circle was the first headquarters of Historic
Annapolis. This was a sidewalk art show set up to benefit H. A., and they
asked me to come and photograph it. This sort of thing is a difficult assignment
because you have to wait patiently for people to assume natural positions
that are complementary to the scene being photographed. Sometimes they
never do. MSA SC 1890-02-30,177A
33.
1954: I took several pictures on Church Circle that day while it was still
snowing, but this has always been my favorite. I was leaning out of the
window on the second floor of the post office for this one. I made a 3x4
foot mural and put it over the fireplace at home. A couple of weeks later
we had the floors refinished and the fellow who did the work admired the
print so much that he took it in payment for the job. MSA SC 1890-02-248A
34.
1956 circa: For me, a photograph really succeeds if it can explain its
subject completely. Here you can see the tobacco plant clearly in the foreground,
that it is being harvested by hand and drawn by horses. There's the typical
tobacco barn with its slats open for the crop to dry, and there's the farmer's
house. Today, of course, there would be a tractor instead of horses. In
fact, this particular scene no longer exists; the community of Annapolis
Cove on Bay Ridge Avenue is now on the site of this farm. MSA SC 1890-02-14
35.
1958: During the fifties I was very involved with the Chamber of Commerce.
Undoubtedly this photograph was made for them--to show Annapolis as a progressive
town with parking meters that would discourage people from parking downtown
all day. The shopping centers were just starting to come in and the merchants
were desperate for ways to keep people from going up the Ritchie Highway
to Harundale. MSA SC 1890-02-30,148
36.
December 1959: Among the hundreds of aerials I've taken of Annapolis, this
is the best for illustrating its radiating circles, and I've never been
able to duplicate it. I was flying with Dave Scott, my favorite pilot,
and we were flying a bit low. We were in a Cessna high wing airplane and
I always sat in the back seat to avoid getting the wing strut in the picture.
I shot it at 1/400th of a second--the highest shutter speed possible on
a Speedgraphic. It's so sharp you can see the Christmas garlands around
the circle and read the time on one of St. Anne's clocks. MSA SC 1890-02-96
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