A photograph taken in 1953 by A. Aubrey Bodine, titled “Cornhill Street in Annapolis,” offers a glimpse into the restoration of Colonial and early Federal homes in Anne Arundel County. The image shows four houses that originally stood at the same height, with the leftmost house having undergone a roof raising around 1900. This photograph is part of Bodine's extensive body of work documenting Maryland's architectural heritage.
A. Aubrey Bodine (1906-1970) was regarded as one of the finest pictorialists of the twentieth century. His pictures were exhibited in hundreds of prestigious shows and museums worldwide, earning top honors in national and international salon competitions. Bodine's career began in 1923 at the Baltimore Sunday Sun, where he covered stories and traveled throughout Maryland, creating remarkable documentary pictures of occupations and activities. His documentary work is noted for its artistic quality, often exceeding standard newspaper photography in design and lighting effects.
Bodine believed photography could be a creative discipline and studied art principles at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He treated the camera and darkroom equipment as tools, much like a painter's brush or sculptor's chisel. His craftsmanship involved constant experimentation, from composing in the viewfinder to manipulating negatives with dyes, intensifiers, pencil markings, and even scraping. He added clouds photographically and made other elaborate manipulations, rationalizing that like a painter, he selected features suited to his sense of mood, proportion, and design. For Bodine, the picture was paramount, not the method of achieving it.
The photograph of Cornhill Street is significant as it captures a moment in the ongoing restoration of historic homes in Annapolis. More than 6,000 photographs from Bodine's 47-year career are available for viewing at www.aaubreybodine.com, where they can be ordered as reprints and note cards. The website also features a full biography of Bodine written by his editor and closest friend, Harold A. Williams.
This image serves as a reminder of Bodine's contribution to preserving Maryland's history through photography. For additional information, inquiries can be directed to www.aaubreybodine.com.
