Willard Elmer Worden (1868 - 1946) Oil on Board, Signed, Measures ( x. inches ) w/frame ( x. inches ) . Photographer. Born in Smyrna, DE on Nov. 20, 1868. Worden moved with his family to Philadelphia as a child. He grew up there and studied painting at the PAFA. While serving in the Spanish-American War, he became interested in photography. After settling in San Francisco in 1902, he established a studio and turned his lens to the Sierra Nevada, the northern coast, and the San Francisco Bay area. His photograph Portals of the Past (the Greek columns of the Towne mansion destroyed in the 1906 fire) was popular with the public and resulted in the columns being placed in Golden Gate Park. He served as official photographer for the PPIE of 1915 and, for over 30 years, had a studio at 316 Stockton Street. His work was exhibited at the Louvre in Paris and was known in Europe earlier in the century. His poetic, hand-painted photographs of Chinatown and pre-earthquake San Francisco have become much sought after by collectors of California art. Worden died in Palo Alto, CA on Sept.

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