Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
September 09, 2025
A. Aubrey Bodine's 1937 Photo Captures Maryland's Industrial Heritage
TLDR
- Photographers can gain artistic advantage by studying Bodine's award-winning techniques and creative darkroom manipulations.
- Bodine composed images in-camera and used dyes, intensifiers, and scraping on negatives to achieve precise artistic effects.
- Bodine's documentary photography preserves Maryland's history and occupations, enriching cultural heritage for future generations.
- A golf course community now occupies land that was once the historic Legh Furnace iron business site.
Impact - Why it Matters
This news matters because it preserves and highlights the artistic legacy of A. Aubrey Bodine, whose work documents important historical and cultural aspects of Maryland's past. For historians, artists, and local residents, Bodine's photographs serve as valuable visual records of industrial sites, communities, and landscapes that have since transformed. His innovative techniques bridge documentary photography with fine art, offering insights into early 20th-century photographic practices and regional history. The accessibility of his archive through www.aaubreybodine.com ensures that this cultural heritage remains available for education, appreciation, and preservation, connecting present generations with the visual storytelling of the past.
Summary
The historical photograph "Old Iron Furnace (1937)" by renowned pictorialist A. Aubrey Bodine captures the industrial heritage of Carroll County, Maryland, where the Legh Furnace iron business once operated. Established by English immigrant Legh Masters in the late 18th century, this furnace represented early American industrial ambition before being renamed Avondale in 1802 under new ownership by Isaac Van Bibber. The image serves as a visual record of Maryland's industrial past, now transformed into the modern Furnace Hills golf community.
A. Aubrey Bodine, celebrated as one of the finest pictorialists of the twentieth century, began his photographic career in 1923 with the Baltimore Sunday Sun and gained international recognition through prestigious exhibitions and awards. His approach to photography was deeply artistic—he believed in "making" rather than "taking" pictures, employing techniques like compositional framing, darkroom manipulations, and even adding clouds to achieve his desired aesthetic effects. Bodine's work combined documentary excellence with artistic innovation, studying art principles at the Maryland Institute College of Art to elevate his craft beyond typical newspaper photography.
For those interested in exploring Bodine's extensive legacy, more than 6,000 photographs from his 47-year career are available for viewing and purchase at www.aaubreybodine.com, where visitors can also find the full biography "A Legend In His Time" by Harold A. Williams. The website serves as the primary resource for accessing Bodine's remarkable documentary and artistic works, offering reprints and note cards of his iconic images that capture Maryland's historical and cultural landscape.
Source Statement
This curated news summary relied on content disributed by citybiz. Read the original source here, A. Aubrey Bodine's 1937 Photo Captures Maryland's Industrial Heritage
