Preserving the Legacy of Pioneering Night Photographer A. Aubrey Bodine

A. Aubrey Bodine was legendary in his native town of Baltimore, and recorded many aspects of daily life in this American city during the middle of the 20th century. The aspect that is of interest to us of course is his night photography. What stands out about Bodine’s nocturnal work is two-fold. First, he created a unique and captivating record of a particular place and time. More importantly, he worked tirelessly to devise a system of exposure, development and printing of extreme-contrast situations using highly creative and unorthodox methods that enabled him to create final images with unparalleled detail.

Aubrey passed away in 1970, but his work lives on, having a revered place particularly in the realm of night photography history.

In this presentation, Aubrey’s daughter Jennifer B. Bodine will sit down with National Parks at Night’s Lance Keimig to discuss the night photographs of her father and her efforts to preserve his work. Jennifer will talk about the process of managing her father’s archive and placing it in the permanent collections of the Museum of Industry and the Maryland Center for History and Culture. Her husband, Richard Orban, will also be on hand to provide technical insights into Aubrey’s darkroom alchemy that led to his remarkable images of Baltimore at night in the 1940s and 1950s.

Prepare to be inspired both by the artistry and technique of one of the 20th century’s most renowned night photographers and by a daughter’s passion to preserve his legacy for all time.