Library
Washington: Magnificent Capital
In text and pictures, this book presents a magnificent portrait of Washington, D.C. – "the city of our age”. It interprets the city with vigor and with subtle accuracy. The political community and residential city are shown in the large and in detail. All the beloved monuments are here, and the centers of government, but also the night clubs, the old houses, and the cultural centers. Washington is peopled by the exalted and the humble, and they are also here – the Kennedys, the Lyndon B. Johnsons, the Hubert Humphreys, the Dirksens; senators and representatives, social leaders, ambassadors, Egyptian dancers, picnickers in Rock Creek Park, and many more.
A bold yet sensitive interpretation of the national capital, this book is also an impressive example of fine bookmaking. The 200 photographs range from incredibly beautiful scenic views to intimate candid shots, reproduced by gravure and full-color offset; the text consists of fifteen chapters that sparkle with fundamental information and fascinating sidelights of human and historical interest. Text and pictures, composed expressly for this book, capture the many moods of the nation's capitol. From Washington at high noon to the C&O Canal, from a State Department courier to the strollers in Dupont Circle, Washington: Magnificent Capital is alive with today and nostalgic of yesterday. It is the book on the people, politics, and places of that great American city.
Courage and Hesitation
This book blends the talents of two of Washington's most astute and honored observers. Allen Drury and Fred Maroon each spent some three months exploring the corridors of power in the Nixon White House. They observed policy-making meetings and off-the-record interviews, official ceremonies and informal conversations. Promised free access and full cooperation, they met independently with nearly every important figure in the Administration, recording faces, voices and personalities behind the names in the headlines.
The First Lady, the President's daughters, and the White House staff discuss the duties and rewards of an inevitably public life. The Vice President, past and present members of the President's staff – the youngest and one of the most controversial in history – Congressional leaders of every political stripe, and officers of the Cabinet speak freely, each bringing his own perspective to the men and issues of this Administration. And Richard Nixon himself eloquently describes the achievements, the goals, and the aspirations of his Presidency.
Comprehensive, well rounded and revealing, the complementary works of Drury and Maroon provide a candid portrait of the individuals and institutions that guide the destiny of the nation.
These United States
This book is a love song to America. For several decades Fred J. Maroon and Hugh Sidey have watched our country grow and change, have fought for her, laughed and agonized over her. Now these wise and sensitive observers celebrate her.
Why celebrate in the midst of ugliness, chaos and despair? Because, as Hugh Sidey says, "More is still right than wrong, more is still pleasing than offensive." The author's feelings, as in most love songs, embrace the country's beauty – her sweep, height, diversity. All 50 states and the District of Columbia are represented here in Sidey's inspiring text and in 182 pages of Maroon's magnificent color photographs. Down mighty rivers, around busy harbors, along shaded streets, past clangorous factories and thrusting skyscrapers, above jagged mountains and into sylvan retreats of unspoiled wilderness, this book evokes an appreciation for America's vitality, its natural and historic heritage, as well as sorrow for any misunderstandings that have destroyed, or have separated man from nature and man from man.
Above all, These United States reaffirms a faith in our country's future, in our ability to reclaim our roots and preserve them. It is this faith that gives the book its lyrical intensity, that touches hearts and invites all to join in the authors' abiding love for this land.
“These United States is, above all, a magnificent–and I don't use that word loosely–portfolio of canvas-worthy colored photographs, with a prose that is, ultimately as pictorial as the pictures. One might say that the photographs are essentially romantic, and this is true. But America is a romantic dream and realization. Simply, this is a beautiful epitomization of a nation. I know of no better one. After diving pleasurably and deeply into its pages, one surfaces remembering–we sometimes forget–that the United States probably bears man's best hope for a viable future. This is a book for every library in those states." [Los Angeles Herald Examiner]
"Hugh Sidey's clean prose harmonizes well with the vision caught, region by region, by Maroon's vibrant color photos (160 pages, full-page and double-spread) of America's towns, rivers, mountains, prairies, landmarks, skyscrapers, industries, people–a literary-visual hymn of this country in the 1970s." [Publishers Weekly]
“These United States is the work of two absolutely first-rate craftsman. Fred J. Maroon is one of the most respected photographers in the world. He was a protégé of Edward Steichen's which, of course, places him automatically with the angels. Possibly Maroon will be designated the poet-photographer of our generation. He photographs what he sees, distilled by some miraculous subjective process to pure visual poetry. He shows us mountains, buildings, scenery, rivers and waterfalls that no one has ever seen before; we may have been there, but we have never seen these places in this way. This is not a book you can leaf through and leave casually on the coffee table with a dozen others. You will read through it time and again to savor Sidey's often inspired prose and the unforgettable photographs of Fred J. Maroon. Give the book to someone you love. And buy one for yourself." [Sunbound]
The Egypt Story
This is not only a beautiful book, combining a superb picture of Egypt, past and present, with a 50,000-word essay on Egyptian character and civilization. The well-known and gifted photographer Fred J. Maroon provides a stunning pictorial record; capturing magical hues of light and form, he celebrates familiar as well as seldom-visited places. P.H. Newby's thoughtful text relates the fascinating story of a people who throughout 5,000 years of recorded history have been, in the author's words, "humane, humorous, and unfanatical." The Egypt Story begins with an expert, illustrated introduction to the principles that guided ancient Egyptian artists. Then, pictures and text present vivid vignettes of those remarkable Pharaohs who shaped Egypt's past, including Ramses II (Shelley's "Ozymandias, King of Kings"), whose rule lasted for nearly seven decades: Akhenaton, whose impact on Egyptian religion and culture was awesome; and Tutankhamun, the youthful Pharaoh now world-famous for the treasures that were entombed with him. The text provides insight after insight into the character of the ordinary people who built the Pyramids and cultivated the Nile Valley. We find revealing glimpses into their everyday life as recorded in tomb paintings and papyrus drawings.
As the text traces the succession of foreign conquerors – Alexander the Great, the Fatimids, the Marmelukes, Napoleon, the Albanian Mohammed Ali – the photographs reveal the lingering vestiges of each invader's reign, from the fabled harbor of Alexandria to the colorful bazaars of the Fatamid districts of Cairo. Christian and Islamic influences are reflected in Maroon's striking photographs of centuries-old Coptic monasteries still in use in the Eastern Desert and in the Islamic architecture in Cairo, from luminous silhouettes of mosques to lacelike details of great old houses.
We come finally to modern Egypt, where 20th century skyscrapers share the horizon with the Pyramids and where the bent figures of fellaheen toiling along the Nile are replicas of their ancestors as depicted on the walls of the tombs. The basic character of the Egyptian peasant endured unchanged, Mr. Newby suggests, until recently – a continuity unparalleled in world history. Today, however, Egypt's growth can scarcely accommodate its exploding population. As a result, Egypt must look to the desert for the sites of new cities. Concluding the book are awe-inspiring views of the Western Desert; what faces Egypt's future generations here is symbolized by a photograph of telephone poles stretching across barren sands.
Keepers of the Sea
Through powerful pictures and an engaging text, Keepers of the Sea draws the reader into a fascinating world unknown to most people. Few of us have ever had the opportunity to cross the ocean in a fast frigate, plumb its depths in a nuclear submarine, catapult off the deck of a carrier at night or participate in the myriad of activities necessary for the smooth functioning of a modern seagoing fleet. Now, thanks to the combination of an award-winning photographer, a best-selling author and a publisher steeped in naval traditions, these experiences can be shared by all in this magnificent book, the first photographic portrait of America's Navy to be published in forty years.
To capture the drama of life in a Navy whose increasing responsibilities and awesome capabilities deserve close attention, internationally acclaimed photographer Fred J. Maroon spent four years virtually living with his subject. He braved the high seas in a small motor launch, clambered along catwalks and waded in the surf during amphibious exercises to ensure that his pictures would show the Navy exactly as it is, "with the running rust showing."
Accompanying Maroon's 218 full-color photographs are the thoughtful words of Edward L. Beach, a writer whose career in the Navy has given him an intimate knowledge of its people and its ways. His evocative prose adds a dimension to the photos that no other author could have achieved.
From boot camp to beachhead, from bilge to bridge, Keepers of the Sea documents every aspect of life in America's Navy of the 1980s. Fully exploiting the three dimensions in which it operates – above, on and beneath the surface of the sea – the U.S. Navy has in recent years experienced tremendous change in scope and tactics. This book offers a spectacular view of the Navy's unprecedented developments in nuclear, aeronautical and electronic technologies. Its six sections describe, in terms everyone can understand, the Navy's air, surface and submarine forces, as well as seagoing logistics, training and practice, and the projection of sea power to the land.
For those who have served in the U.S. Navy, Keepers of the Sea will evoke a flood of memories. For those interested in the free world's most powerful naval force, it is necessary reading. As an example of the art of fine photography, it has few equals.
The pride of any library, this handsome volume will be enjoyed now and for years to come by all who acknowledge their debt to the sea.
"Keepers of the Sea is a stunning picture book of the Navy, with wonderful photographs of ships and airplanes at sea, as well as photos of Navy sailors in all aspects of training and work."
[Wall Street Journal]"In this superb, illustrated volume, the United States Navy comes alive to the reader, whether he is an old sea hand or a casual reader drawn to the subject by the quality of the hundreds of photographs in the book. Few volumes so vividly catch the life breath of their subjects and convey it with the precision and care that this one does. It is set apart from other books of its kind by its extremely high quality."
[The Daily Press, Newport News]"Both the power and the beauty of the modern U.S. Navy are remarkably captured in this magnificent showcase. Glorious color photos by Fred J. Maroon, often in double-page spreads, feature breathtaking views of the full range of American naval might. A spectacular volume."
[Booklist]"Maroon is a consummate color professional. And his skill shows. Light is his palette, and he is its master. The drama and grandeur of the Navy, even when not at war, is apparent. Maroon's effort is the first official profile of the Navy made in 40 years, the last being the publication Steichen at War. Keepers of the Sea keeps alive Maroon's dedication to excellence."
[Peninsula Times-Tribune]"Whatever else may be said of this book, and much that is favorable deserves to be said, over 200 superb full-color photographs by Fred Maroon make it well worth the price."
[Washington Times Magazine]"The particular combination of talents represented by Beach and Maroon is inspired, and inspiring. If Beach's words provide the strength and substance, Maroon's magnificently evocative photographs give the book its soul and sublimity. But such words are too stale, too sterile, to fully describe Maroon's works. His photographs are visual poetry. They are both truth and beauty, as seen through the eyes of a genius. What it all amounts to is a remarkable accomplishment and stunning achievement, a work of power, or beauty, and of art. There is no other book quite like it."
[Sea Power]"Fred Maroon's photographs–of sea and air maneuvers, missile firings, and the thousand and one details of daily life and duty aboard ship–are simply stunning and their reproduction in these pages is a specimen of the printer's art at its finest."
[San Jose Mercury News]"Keepers of the Sea provides a dramatic format: captivating photography and compelling narrative combined in an outstanding account of the air, sea and land capabilities of our modern Navy. The well-written, well-researched text offers an interesting historical perspective along with information on new technology; taut captions support 218 magnificent, full-color photos. The photography draws you into every event, making you a part of every situation. A beautiful, exciting publication."
[Los Angeles Times]"Collaboration between two such outstanding figures as Maroon and Beach was bound to produce an exceptional book, but this volume exceeds even optimistic expectations. The contemporary U.S. Navy is masterfully presented in 218 color photographs and supporting text. Maroon's magnificent photographs convey both the objective and subjective aspects of the reality of his subject matter. Maroon's photographs could certainly stand alone, but they are supported and enhanced by Beach's equally superb text."
[National Defense]"At first sight, this appears to be another of the so-called "coffee table" books, large and impressive, with a great many beautiful illustrations. This one will fool you. It is certainly beautiful, with some 218 elegant photographs, but a great many of them were taken not only with an eye for the aesthetic but also to give a clear view of the practical. It would be a worthy addition to any maritime library."
[The Ensign]""Keepers of the Sea is a fascinating and awesomely beautiful study of that branch of our armed forces today."
[Popular Photography]"This is a breathtaking book, and reading it is an emotional experience."
[Marine Corps Gazette]"Receiving my personal award as best book of 1983 is Keepers of the Sea. It's a Navy book almost as large as a coffee table, containing color photographs of this country's seagoing military unit. The photographer, Fred J. Maroon, spent four years on the project armed with 35mm Leica cameras and lenses ranging from 19 to 400mm. The results are impressive, leading me to think Maroon is more artist than photographer. His works capture the mood and the moment as men and machine go about their daily duties in our Navy. His photographs record both the pain and the pride of the Navy, occasionally becoming a bit too real as you see the grime on the apparel of the carrier's flight deck crew or the rust on a destroyer which is big and gray and underway. Maroon's use of available light will make other professional photographers envious, as well as his motion scenes at night.
[Erik Rigler, The Monitor]"Keepers of the Sea would be a welcome addition to anyone's bookshelf. Especially effective are the photographs, some of which seem to almost jump out at the reader because of their vividness. This photography ranks with the work of Ansel Adams and even the great Edward Steichen in its panoramic intensity and total dramatic imagery. Keepers of the Sea is one of the finest works ever published on the U.S. Navy. Get it."
[Newsletter, Disabled American Veterans]"Keepers of the Sea is a spectacular tribute to our nation's Navy. Anyone who ever was in the Navy or has a love for this vital peacekeeping force will value this vast, panoramic, photographic portrait of today's Navy. It is quite simply awe-inspiring.
[Business Journal of New Jersey]"An opulent coffee table book containing 218 color photographs by Fred J. Maroon, all of stunning quality."
[The Sunday Peninsula Herald]
Maroon on Georgetown
Few professional photographers live with their subjects for over 35 years. Yet highly respected photographer Fred J. Maroon did just that. Maroon on Georgetown offers an art-quality collection of photographs of the town Maroon called home, the small historic community adjacent to the domes and monoliths of our nation's capital.
Few express the vitality of Georgetown as well as this man, who searched the streets of Georgetown at dawn and at dusk, in all seasons, photographing buildings, neighbors, and nightlife, enjoying rare access to homes, and bringing to the task an exceptional eye for architectural elements.
Georgetown's proximity to Washington makes for exciting and diverse cultural life, while its preservation as a National Landmark has allowed it to retain its small-town identity. Maroon on Georgetown features the campus of Georgetown University, the museums and gardens of Dumbarton Oaks, and the diverse shops and restaurants that form the profusion of style and culture known as Georgetown. Maroon's architectural experience enables him to capture its mood and character, from the Federal, Queen Anne, and Victorian dwellings to the interior design and decoration behind the facades.
From Captain Smith's first voyage up the Potomac River to the town's growth as a busy tobacco port, from its strife on the border of the Civil War to its incorporation into the District of Columbia, Georgetown has a colorful and cultivated past. Maroon's text chronicles the history of Georgetown from its beginning as an Indian village to the urban community of today.
Maroon on Georgetown was first published in 1985, and won Gold Medals for photography and for design in the annual competition of the Art Directors' Club of Metropolitan Washington that year. This edition has been expanded and updated to include additional landmarks and developments. Maroon on Georgetown offers a chance to touch base with history, to appreciate fine art and architecture, and to experience both the excitement and the serenity of one of the most unusual towns in America.
"Magnificently photographed and produced, thoughtfully designed and edited, the essence of Georgetown, the village on the Potomac in the nation's capital, is here defined. Maroon's expertise (he is by training an architect) coupled with an unabashed romantic affection for the village in which he has lived for almost thirty years, translates to a wonderful poem of praise." [ASMP Bulletin]
"...a very intimate and beautiful portrait of Georgetown." [The Home News]
The English Country House: A Tapestry of Ages
From the Middle Ages through the Victorian Era, generations of wealthy and powerful Englishmen built houses of unprecedented splendor and surrounded themselves with the most exquisite objects of their time.
The culmination of a collaboration between leading British architectural historian Mark Girouard and internationally acclaimed photographer Fred Maroon that began with a National Geographic article, The English Country House: A Tapestry of Ages traces the evolution of England's great houses.
Here in the stunning settings their owners chose for them are priceless works by Adam, Chippendale, Van Dyck and Rubens that dazzled almost one million visitors at the National Gallery of Art's 1985-86 exhibition, "Treasure Houses of Britain". The English Country House: A Tapestry of Ages takes us from Broadlands where the honeymooning Prince of Wales stayed in 1981, to Uppark where a dairymaid married her 71-year-old master in 1825, from the garden of Hatfield House, where Elizabeth I received word of her accession to the throne, to the Dry Laundry at Erdigg where other Englishwomen pressed wrinkles from the household linen.
Guided by Girouard's historical insights and his own architectural background, Maroon sought out and photographed the rooms which best exemplify the changing decorative and societal styles of each era: the massive, chestnut-raftered Great Hall at Penshurst Place where the medieval lord feasted amongst his household and guests, the small silk-draped Queen's closet at Ham House where Charles II's wife received only the most intimate of her associates. In images as jewel-like as the subjects they depict, Maroon captures the sinuous lines of a mermaid carved on the sofa at Kedleston, the play of light against the silver furnishings at Knole, the delicate pastels of Burghley House's Heaven Room where Queen Victoria breakfasted beneath a painted canopy of swirling gods and goddesses.
Accompanying the photographs are nine essays based on interviews with the very real people – lords and butlers, duchesses and curators – who live and work in fabulous houses like Chatsworth where Girouard spent childhood holidays, assuming, as he relates in his introduction, that he was at "some kind of hotel." The English Country House: A Tapestry of Ages invites you to explore what Girouard calls the "secret landscapes" and lavish chambers of England's most magnificent country houses.
"The book has widespread appeal...Photographers will appreciate the technical magnificence of perfectly parallel lines, remarkable lighting and subjects selected with great courage. Book fanciers will be delighted with the superior reproduction, and everyone else will examine and re-examine these wonderful pictures by one of the nation's top free-lance photographers."
[The Washington Post]
"For those who didn't get enough of English country houses during the exhibit at the National Gallery, photographer Fred Maroon and English architectural historian Mark Girouard have provided a second look. Maroon's lush photographs capture the beauty and personality of these extraordinary homes that were built by wealthy Englishmen from the Middle Ages through the Victorian period. Accompanying the color photographs are nine essays based on interviews with the lords and ladies, butlers and maids who live and work in the houses. No detail escapes Maroon's camera, which examines a wide range of decorative styles and historical periods. In addition to the wide-angle shots of great halls, chapels and gardens, there also are close-ups of intricately carved furniture legs, stained-glass windows and ceiling murals."
[Washington Home]
"Maroon admits that the country seats that have been the pride and joy of the English nobility and gentry for centuries no longer bespeak economic and social power like they used to, but he insists 'they are as beautiful as they have been.' It is doubtful that anyone, after perusing this luscious photographic tour of some of the finest country houses, would dispute his assertion."
[Booklist]
"This magnificent architectural tribute to great English homes built from the Middle Ages through the Victorian period provides a fascinating tour of the grandeur and exquisite decor for which they are world famous. The lavish photographs are well worth the price of the book and the interesting descriptions and architectural explanations are an added bonus."
[Concise Book Reviews]
"The text and splendid color photos combine a history with illustrations of these national treasures. Interviews with several of the stately homes' owners enliven the text, but readers will undoubtedly focus on the dazzling photographs. These are views of grand halls and chambers and close-ups of statuary and painting preserved from ages past. The vistas of the surrounding landscapes and gardens impress one with their size and the labor necessary to maintain such great edifices as Blenheim Palace (built by the Duke of Marlborough in 1705 and home to Winston Churchill)."
[Publishers Weekly]
"This beautifully photographed book re-opens the doors to these masterpieces and allows us all to go tramping through their gleaming interiors again, wide-eyed at their lavish detail and elegant proportions. The text and photographs work together to capture more than just the stunning tapestries and the endless chandeliers; they convey the significance of these rooms to the English–their arts, culture, society–and to civilization as a whole. Subject matter, caption material, photographs–the wealth is everywhere in this book, right down to the paper that it's printed on."
[Washington Post Book World]
"Surely the most beautiful of recent volumes on British mansions, this lovely book is virtually all pictures, rich, haunting colored photographs of the very best of English country houses. The house names of the book are magical ones, and seldom have they been photographed so handsomely. Scattered through the book are nine essays starring people who have lived in some of them, owners, staff and caretakers. Well-captioned, beautifully reproduced, this portfolio is tailor-made for the delight of National Trust enthusiasts."
[The Anniston Star]
Jean-Louis: Cooking with the Seasons
When Jean-Louis Palladin came to the United States in 1979, he was already known throughout Europe for his breathtaking culinary range. His Washington restaurant, Jean-Louis at Watergate, quickly became one of America's finest; French food writer and critic Henri Gault has called it "perhaps the best restaurant outside of France."
With lavish photographs and complete recipes for over a dozen seven- and eight-course meals, Jean-Louis: Cooking with the Seasons encompasses Palladin's art. Prize-winning photographer Fred J. Maroon deftly manipulates lighting and acrylic surfaces to showcase dishes of startling beauty: a crawfish crowning a baked potato, artichokes and milk-fed lamb dressed with a vinaigrette of Vosne-Romanée 1972, chestnut soufflé with poached pears, apples, and peaches.
In four engaging essays and excerpts from interviews, Palladin reveals how a master of classical and contemporary French cuisine varies his repertoire throughout the year. A sunburst pattern of snow peas, asparagus, and corn celebrates summer's bounty, while a salmis of Mulard duck with honey mushrooms and glazed pearl onions complements winter's robust spirit.
Despite his culinary sophistication, Palladin prizes the traditions of his native Gascony, giving his cuisine down-to-earth qualities that set him apart from other chefs of our time. Looking through a 19th century recipe notebook willed to him by a woman of his village, he discovers a superb preparation for duck. Nostalgic for the savory, nutritious bone marrow served with pot-au-feu in French bistros, he incorporates the marrow's flavor in an elegant flan. In Jean-Louis: Cooking with the Seasons, he shares these recipes and over 100 more, including an entire vegetarian dinner and a menu which features black or white truffles in every course.
Inspired by the quality of America's produce, Palladin has won acclaim for dishes such as his crab cakes with Maine lobster mousseline. Jean-Louis: Cooking with the Seasons offers brilliant settings for Maine oysters, Louisiana crawfish, Texas venison, and Maryland soft-shell crab. Among the wine suggestions for each course, California vintages are well represented.
The recipe section, exactingly tested for the home kitchen, explains the preparation of every dish portrayed. With so many delicacies in each course, cooks can recreate whole dishes or explore hundreds of enticing details from crispy sweetbreads Mirepoix to huckleberry sorbet.
True to the spirit of Palladin's work, Jean-Louis: Cooking with the Seasons is not only a tribute to one of today's greatest culinary geniuses, but also an inspiration to food lovers everywhere to experiment, to learn, and to rejoice in the pleasures of the table.
"Jean-Louis: Cooking with the Seasons, is probably the most beautiful "cookbook" ever published. Photographing food has added a new dimension to Maroon's already extensive body of work and, with this book, he has undoubtedly raised the standards of 'food photography'."
[Burrell's]"This year's book beauty queen is Jean-Louis: Cooking with the Seasons."
[Chicago Tribune]"What happens when an internationally acclaimed chef and a prize-winning photographer team up to portray the cuisine served at a renowned restaurant? A landmark book that may well mark the pinnacle of food photography."
[Nation's Restaurant News]"Certainly a contender for the most beautiful book of the season, but a beauty with substance. Maroon, an art photographer, treats Jean-Louis's food as art."
[World of Cookbooks]"In Jean-Louis: Cooking with the Seasons, Fred J. Maroon lifts the art of food photography to new heights. Roasted capon with black truffles and french bread stuffing, sea scallops and corn pancakes with Ossetra caviar and sour cream sauce, and Kathy Dinardo's cheesecake with confit of Paris mushrooms are haute cuisine and their pictures must be seen to be believed."
[Roanoke Times and World-News]"Once you've followed Jean-Louis Palladin's advice on how to outfit your kitchen, why not turn your attention to his cuisine? The celebrated chef's just-published Jean-Louis: Cooking with the Seasons, on which he collaborated with photographer Fred J. Maroon, is a visual tour de force. No fewer than 139 luscious color photographs–often larger than life–complement recipes specially tested for home preparation. One complaint: The book is so lavish, it hardly seems safe to risk taking it into the kitchen."
[ELLE Decor]"The luxurious full-color photographs by Fred J. Maroon are almost edible, or at least you'll wish they were."
[The Sun]"Jean-Louis: Cooking with the Seasons might be the most beautiful cookbook you can buy. In it, Palladin's food is photographed in such sensuous detail that browsers in bookstores often blush when they're caught staring too long at photographer Fred Maroon's depiction of a lobster mousseline."
[Los Angeles Times]
Century Ended, Century Begun - The Catholic University of America
Forty years after enrolling in The Catholic University of America as an architecture student, Fred J. Maroon retuned to the campus in 1986 to begin work on this pictorial essay.
On the occasion of the University's centennial and the 40th anniversary of Maroon's graduation, he gives us Century Ended, Century Begun - The Catholic University of America. The book provides us a view of a University that has changed from the one he knew earlier and yet remains the same. When Maroon came home from World War II and joined CUA's freshman class, trolley cars transported students and visitors to campus. So Maroon's return in the 80's was somewhat unsettling until he discovered striking similarities to the past. Architecture students still stay up all night perfecting thier projects before the dreaded faculty critiques. Philosophy remains a cornerstone of the core curriculum. Broadway-quality productions are still performed at the Hartke Theatre, which rose to fame with the 1939 opening of Yankee Doodle Boy. And beating Georgetown University in football still inflates a Cardinal booster's pride like no other victory.
In a sense, Century Ended, Century Begun – The Catholic University of America is a sequel for Maroon. This epilogue's stunning collection of photographs brings to life the vitality of the nation's only university established by the United States Catholic bishops. Maroon accomplishes this vision with the same enthusiasm he brought to the 1950 Cardinal. In his senior year, he served as editor-in-chief and photographer for this prize-winning yearbook and caught the eyes of Life magazine editors.
Through the lens of Maroon's camera, ordinary classrooms, residence halls, and meeting places are transformed into images of significance and visual beauty. His camera captures the breadth of campus life. Readers can experience the complexity of a philosophy class, the aesthetic order of an architectural façade, a musician's intense concentration, the placidity of a fresh snowfall and the boisterous joy a newly conferred degree brings.
Maroon does more than record. His meticulous eye canvasses the landscape and searches for the perfect conditions that transform mundane episodes into extraordinary masterpieces. "He'd set up his tripod at humdrum settings I'd seen a hundred times," says a student who accompanied Maroon on location. "Then I'd see the picture and it was like a whole new vision."
The highest art of the camera lies in its ability to extend to all the vision of the gifted. Maroon's patient use of light and carefully chosen angles enable him to trap fleeting moments that most of us miss.
Century Ended, Century Begun – The Catholic University of America provides a stimulating introduction to newcomers to the university. But old friends will make new discoveries while being treated to brilliant images that will awaken past memories.
The United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is an unparalleled volume of architectural photography revealing the majestic interiors–public and private–and breathtaking exterior of this landmark building. Photographer Fred J. Maroon, in collaboration with the United States Capitol Preservation Commission, was granted unique access to the United States Capitol building, including areas in which photography is customarily prohibited. His photographs, all full color, show the building in its many moods. With an introduction by Daniel J. Boorstin, former Librarian of Congress, and a lively, authoritative text by Suzy Maroon, The United States Capitol is the most comprehensive, entertaining, and visually beautiful book on the subject.
Photographs and text combine to provide a complete tour of the art and architecture of the Capitol, including the Rotunda, corridors, committee rooms, private offices, sculpture, painting, porticos, congressional chambers, and other working areas of the building. Exterior photographs show it by day and night, and in all seasons. Archival images document the building's 100-year-long architectural transformation.
Throughout the book, the intriguing personalities of the architects, builders, and politicians who shaped the Capitol shine through. Suzy Maroon's spirited prose and Fred J. Maroon's astonishingly beautiful photographs are sure to delight government, architecture, and history buffs alike.
"Fred Maroon has produced a masterpiece of documentation in his tenth book, The United States Capitol, featuring highly readable text by his wife and collaborator Suzy Marooon. The results are spectacular: a photographic artist's rendering of the grand rooms, great chambers, corridors and hideaways of the building in which so much of the nation's business is conducted."
[The Washington Post]"The United States Capitol is the most elegant picture book (with a smoothly-flowing commentary by Suzy Maroon, the photographer's wife) ever made about the building. Maroon was trained as an architect and it shows in these splendid images."
[The Washington Post]"The United States Capitol is unquestionably the finest book I've seen on the subject. No mere collection of postcard snapshots with mundane captions, each artfully executed photograph is a tribute to every architect, artist and craftsman who helped created the Capitol, as well as the men and women so deeply immersed in this experiment of self-government. Exhibiting the same authoritativeness and sensitivity as the photographs, the text makes this a "coffee table textbook" that would benefit, both visually and intellectually, many Americans who have become increasingly distanced from even a cursory working understanding of our governmental institutions. After all, no matter when you live in the United States, this is your Capitol, too!"
[Camera and Darkroom]
The Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court building, like the Capitol and White House before it, stands as a fitting tribute to the branch of government it houses. In The Supreme Court of the United States, award-winning photographer Fred J. Maroon captures both the power and the elegance of architect Cass Gilbert's pure neoclassical design, from the magnificent bronze doors depicting the Evolution of Justice to the sumptuous oak-paneled private chambers.
Granted access to areas in which photography is customarily prohibited. Maroon reveals the highest court's home in 130 spectacular full-color photographs, while Suzy Maroon's lively and informative text provides the stories of the people and the forces that shaped both the American justice system and the building that would become its symbol. In addition, the book features a history of the Supreme Court itself, as well as a fascinating photo-essay that tracks a petition's progress through the Court.
The Supreme Court of the United States is a remarkable achievement, one that will appeal not only to those with a passion for history and architecture, but also to anyone who wants to learn more about the building of a nation's hopes and ideals.
"No one has captured the richness of the Supreme Court Building as well as photographer Fred J. Maroon. His loving attention to the building and its unique character make the collection more than an ordinary coffee-table book. In addition to taking breathtaking exterior and interior shots of the building, Maroon was given unprecedented access to the chambers of the justices to take pictures that offer an almost anthropological glimpse into the work habits and aesthetic sensibilities of individual justices. His wife, Suzy Maroon, wrote the text to accompany the photos, a well-crafted narrative of the building's history as well as the procedures and traditions of the Court."
[Legal Times]"Few people have ever been inside the Supreme Court's majestic building. Those who do go see only a small part of the building. The wonderful book by Fred Maroon and Suzy Maroon, with its 130 color photographs and accompanying text, now gives readers a glimpse into every part of the Court. Fred Maroon was given unprecedented access to photograph from the courtroom to the justices' dining room, from the library to the chambers of the individual justices. Some pictures are of details, such as a full-page photo of a single panel on a bronze elevator door, and some are of a grander scope, such as a striking photo of the building during a sunset. All the photographs are riveting and do a masterful job of giving the reader a sense of what it is like to have been inside the building. The Supreme Court of the United States will make a terrific gift for those interested in law. It is a book like none other than I have seen. It is one I will always treasure."
[Trial Magazine]"Fred and Suzy Maroon have combined words and pictures to give us a view of the Supreme Court that offers unusual insight into the least public of the three branches of the federal government. Fred Maroon's photographer's eye, and his long experience photographing Washington, invoke the unique dignity of the Court both as an an architectural work and as a temple of justice. Even lawyers who are familiar with this stately edifice will see things they have never observed before in these 130 photographs of the Court's public and private spaces. Mr. Maroon captures light and color in ways that one just doesn't notice in visits to the Court. He obviously had very special access to the Court; the book includes pictures of eight of the justices' chambers (only Justice Scalia's chambers are omitted) that tell us something new about each of them. We see a stuffed teddy bear in Justice Ginsburg's chambers, a practice putting game in Justice Stevens's, and portraits of Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass in Justice Thomas's. Any collection of books on the Supreme Court, or on the National Capital, will be enhanced by this majestic, and even beautiful, volume."
[Portfolio]
The Nixon Years 1969-1974
Twenty-five years after the Watergate scandal led to his resignation, Richard M. Nixon remains an enigmatic figure, the only president to step down under the threat of impeachment charges. The insiders' view of the Nixon presidency through the lens of Fred J. Maroon and the pen of Tom Wicker sheds light on Nixon and this extraordinary and unsettling time.
Fred J. Maroon had no way of knowing when he began work in 1970 on a book project to photograph the new presidency that he would find himself in a unique position to document the events, as they unraveled, of the Watergate crisis. At that time no other outside photographer had been given the kind of access Maroon had to the White House or, later, to the Committee to Re-elect the President. To complete the story of Watergate, Maroon covered the events that followed – the Senate Watergate hearings, and the final days of the Nixon presidency.
Most of the 145 duotone photographs in this remarkable portfolio have never been published before; they are the best of the thousands of pictures Maroon took during Nixon's term in office, from his jubilant inauguration in 1969 to his emotional resignation in 1974. The pictures are direct, powerful documents of a disturbing political era.
The accompanying text by eminent journalist Tom Wicker, who also had first-hand knowledge of the presidency as a columnist for the New York Times, is an objective, insightful narration of the Nixon years. He relates the peaks and valleys of Nixon's seesawing career and scrutinizes his legacy. Maroon's factual and anecdotal captions further illuminate the surprising events of the time. With its fascinating collection of photographs and intriguing text, this book is a unique portrayal of a president in crisis.
