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Chesapeake Bay Bridge at Night, 1953. Silver gelatin photographic print.
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Drifting Dredgers, Chesapeake Bay, 1956. Silver gelatin photographic print.
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Steaming Crabs, Pope's Creek, Maryland, c. 1963. Silver gelatin photographic print.
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Medium/Discipline: Photography
Birthplace: Wheat Basin, Montana
Place of Death: Annapolis, Maryland
Maryland Affiliation: Depicts Maryland subjects, Active while in residence
Active Dates and Place: Montana, 1920-21; St. Louis, Sikeston, Farmington (all in Missouri), 1921-42; Washington, D.C., 1946-47; Annapolis, Maryland, 1947-present
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Biography: Marion Warren, documentary and commercial photographer as well as ecology advocate, lived and worked in Maryland for most of his career after his arrival in 1947. He is known for his work in the mid-Atlantic region, particularly throughout Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay watershed. "He is attracted particularly to working people: watermen, crab pickers, farmers, school teachers, store keepers, migrant workers and the Native Americans" of the region." (Marion E. Warren with Mame Warren, Bringing Back the Bay: The Chesapeake in the Photographs of Marion E. Warren and the Voices of its People, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 1994, p. ix) Marion's daughter, oral historian Mame Warren, wrote, "I often joke that as a child I thought we needed passports to cross the state line, so seldom did our family leave Maryland." (Warren, p. ix). Always exploring Maryland, the family traveled so that their father could document Maryland's towns, landscape and residents; aware of the photograph's importance as historical record, Warren's stock photography files were titled "Maryland Illustrated." He preferred to work in the medium of black and white photography for archival reasons, as it is not prone to fading over time.
Marion Warren pursued the profession of photographer from high school forward, working in the field in various capacities. While living in St. Louis from 1939-42, Warren held positions in commercial, advertising, medical and news photography and explored art photography on his own in part through association with the St. Louis Camera Club. He worked for the Washington University Medical School making lantern slides, printing x-rays, and shooting anatomical specimens for lecture purposes and also served as a portrait negative retoucher, a darkroom technician (both for studios) and a news photographer for the Associated Press.
In 1942, Warren was drafted into the Navy where he was on call to take pictures for the Secretary of the Navy, the White House, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. That same year, Marion was assigned to photograph a reception for the WAVES, and their British counterparts, the WRENS, in Washington, D.C. He met Yeoman Mary Giblin there and they were married in October of 1943. From 1946 to 1947, Warren was employed as a portrait photographer with Harris & Ewing Studios in Washington, D.C.
Marion and Mary Warren had three children, Paul, Nancy and Mame. Following the Warrens' service, they settled in Annapolis in 1947, where he did photo finishing for Carleton Mitchell with the agreement that Warren be able to set up his own studio concurrently. The studio was located first at 5 State Circle, then at 88 State Circle, and Warren became the photographer for the State of Maryland's Department of Information, a position that had not existed before the administration of Governor McKeldin. Warren was often called in to do photographs of visiting dignitaries, such as the Queen Mother, President Eisenhower, and the Duke and Duchess of Kent, as well as state events and the annual Christmas photographs for the McKeldin family. In the early sixties, Marion decided to close his portrait studio and devote himself to commercial photography.
Upon arrival in Maryland in 1947 he became immediately fascinated with the Chesapeake Bay and its waterways. He took classes in boating and spent as much time on the water as possible with faculty at the Naval Academy with the primary goal of taking photographs along the way.
In 1984, Marion Warren began his Bay Project to save the Chesapeake Bay; his efforts included photographing the many aspects of the Bay, including its threats, lobbying legislators and participating in hearings, conferences and committees. The Bay Project photographs were done in black and white, which have greater archival longevity, and because he did not want color to distract from the subject. As Marion Warren photographed, his daughter Mame captured the words of Chesapeake Bay residents. Their work is featured in the publication Bringing Back the Bay, with photographs presented alongside words of Chesapeake Bay watershed regional residents who are not necessarily related to the photographic scene or subject. In fact, Marion Warren chose not to include extended captions for the photographs so that the viewer would allow the photographs to speak for themselves. Nonetheless, the extensive Photographer's Commentaries at the back of the book describe in detail Marion Warren's tricks of the trade, challenges, analysis of the people and situations he encountered and his reasons for including these subjects as illustrations of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.
From 1974 through 1987, Warren and his wife ran a gallery on Maryland Avenue in Annapolis in order to market his fine art photographs, which had always been in great demand from individuals, businesses, and interior designers. Then in 1987, Warren retired from commercial work and donated his Maryland Illustrated and related collections, consisting of over 100,000 black and white negatives and prints, to the Maryland State Archives. The Marion E. Warren Collection, with its original photographs by Marion and large number of copy photographs of vintage prints and negatives, forms the backbone of the photographic collections at the Maryland State Archives. In addition, thousands of color images by Marion Warren are maintained by Joanie Surette, his business partner, who is listed below as the contact for Warren.
For a complete bibliography, along with a more comprehensive biography, for Marion Warren and his work, you are encouraged to visit the Maryland State Archives web pages that present support material for The Eye of the Beholder: Photographs by Marion E. Warren, 1940-1988. The Maryland Public Television production Marion E. Warren: The Eye of the Beholder received an Emmy for best regional documentary.
Education/Training: Hadley Vocational School (St. Louis, Missouri), photography courses, 1938; St. Louis University, one-semester course in photographic chemistry, 1939; Washington University, one year in advertising photography, 1939
Selected References: Marion E. Warren Bibliography, Maryland State Archives, The Eye of the Beholder: Photographs by Marion E. Warren, 1940-1988
Marion E. Warren Resource Page. www.annapolisbooks.com/MeWarren.
Warren, Marion E. with Mame Warren. Bringing Back the Bay: The Chesapeake in the Photographs of Marion E. Warren and the Voices of its People. (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press), 1994.
Other Publications: Warren, Marion E. with Michael P. McCarthy. The Living City: Baltimore's Charles Center & Inner Harbor Development. (Baltimore: The Maryland Historical Society), 2002.
Maryland Institutions Holding Artworks: Maryland State Archives
Maryland Institutions Holding Biographical Material: Maryland State Archives
Maryland Institutions Holding Autobiographical Resources, Archives, Personal Papers, Ephemera, or Other Primary Source Material: Maryland State Archives
Single-Artist Exhibitions: partial list:
The Eye of the Beholder: Photographs by Marion E. Warren, 1940-1988, Maryland State Archives, 1987.
A Retrospective Vision: The Photography of Marion E. Warren, 1939-1999, The Mitchell Art Gallery at St. John's College, 2001.
Awards: partial list:
National Endowment for the Humanities and Maryland Humanities Council grants for the publication of Bringing Back the Bay, 1993.
Artist Contact Information: Joanie Surette, phone: 410-991-0264, email: jasurette@earthlink.net
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