The Marion Warren Gallery  

Marion E. Warren
Annapolis in Bloom, 1960-1988
Marion Warren Annapolis in Bloom #38
#38 June 16, 1962: Jim Madison, the rector at St. Anne’s, called me one day and asked if I’d like to go up on the steeple of the church to take pictures. Of course, I’d been watching them put up the scaffold to make repairs and trying to figure out how I was going to get up there, so I jumped at the chance. Although I’d already been up in the State House dome a number of times, this gave me a new perspective. We were standing right up by the cross when I took this view down Main Street.
Marion Warren Annapolis in Bloom #40
#40 March 7, 1965: Historic Annapolis asked me to make a photograph that would dramatize the signs and wires on West Street. They wanted to use it to show the legislature that one of the primary approaches to the city had become an ugly hodgepodge. I used a longer than normal lens to foreshorten the streetscape and emphasize the signs. I like to think the picture helped, because we got a law passed to get rid of the signs, and this was the first street where the wires were put underground.
Marion Warren Annapolis in Bloom #41
#41 1969 circa: Marcellus Hall was for many years the maitre d’hotel at Carvel Hall. He knew everyone, and everyone loved him. The Navy even made him an honorary admiral; in fact, he had more stripes than a real admiral. After the hotel closed, he started his own business giving tours of Annapolis. I caught him here on Maryland Avenue just outside the Naval Academy.
Marion Warren Annapolis in Bloom #42

#42 1970: City Dock is always an inspiration for exhibition-quality prints, especially when it snows. On this day, I was disappointed at first because the snow wasn’t very obvious on the boats; then I noticed the reflections. I give a lot of talks to camera clubs, and I always challenge them to go to City Dock and not come back with wonderful pictures.

Marion Warren Annapolis in Bloom #43
#43 February 1970: My wife claims this photograph as hers because she was the one who saw it first. She was driving across the King George Street bridge one morning when she saw these seagulls on the ice. She hurried home and insisted that I go right out with my camera. I shot a whole roll of film, but this is the only one that’s really good because of the spacing of the birds. It’s a very difficult negative to print so that the details stand out. It was one of our most popular photographs at the gallery, and we used it one year on our Christmas card.
Marion Warren Annapolis in Bloom #44
#44 March 29, 1971: The Hammond-Harwood House Association hired me to make twelve new photographs in the house for a set of notepaper. This is my favorite, probably because it was one of the hardest to do. It’s a combination of artificial light and daylight; the secret is to make it appear that the light is only coming from the direction of the window. Moving the artificial lights during a long time exposure eliminated the shadows and gave a good depth of field. Lighting the candles added the lived-in look.
Marion Warren Annapolis in Bloom #45
#45 April 20, 1974: I always like to get the State House in my street scenes because that identifies it instantly as Annapolis, even without a caption. But that’s a difficult thing to do because the wires often get in the way. In order to get a good perspective for this view of Maryland Avenue, I was up on a six-foot ladder with my tripod fully extended to about twelve feet. That got me up above the fence so I could really see the Chase House doorway. My favorite vantage point is about twelve feet up — that’s why I now have a wooden platform on top of my van.
Marion Warren Annapolis in Bloom #47
#47 October 1987: I made this view from the Eastport bridge for the new edition of Annapolis Adventure we’re working on. I think it includes several of the reasons people come to Annapolis: the water, the pleasure boats, and the Carroll Mansion symbolizing the historic homes.
Marion Warren Annapolis in Bloom #48
#48 October 1987: I saw this scene when I was riding my bike one day on Lafayette Avenue just after Mary and I moved into town. I got up before dawn the next morning and went back. I shot a whole series of pictures as the sun was coming up, until it got too bright for the lens. After all these years of taking water views in Annapolis, it’s still exciting when I discover a new vista.
 

The Marion Warren Gallery
45 West Street
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
410-280-1414