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A new documentary celebrates the work of the late architectural photographer Julius Shulman. We preview the movie's trailer and look back at some of Shulman's most iconic work.
Julius Shulman, who passed away on July 15 at the age of 98, didn’t make his centenary, but throughout a long and illustrious career, he managed to succeed most of the subjects that first brought him fame. we look back at his works, which have shaped the modern landscape of America’s West Coast and inspired architecture as an art form
Looking through one of the glass paneled walls, a lone man stands at the far end of the room. With one glass panel drawn back he leans out from the cantilevered glass pavilion to survey the nocturnal landscape of downtown Los Angeles. Julius Shulman’s Stahl Residence at Night (1960) is not only an impressive visual document of Post-war modernism in the US in the 1960s, it is without doubt, the most iconic architectural image ever produced.
Shulman’s panoptic images of modern life, as shown through the home and its surroundings were pioneering, both architecturally and in terms of one of the most successful sectors within today’s media, the art of living. As the late photographer explained in a 1990 interview conducted for the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art “The growing volume of my work was represented by my ability to convey the true significance of architectural design. Which I know photography was great to have knowledge of, but only insofar as photography was not overpowering the significance, the representation of the architect’s design philosophy. And this is what came out.”
Julius Shulman’s illustrious career was the result of a chance encounter when a young draftsman working for the celebrated architect Richard Neutra invited him to visit the Kun Residence, a recently completed project. Shulman took along his Kodak pocket camera and insouciantly snapped away. When Neutra saw the prints, he immediately commissioned the photographer, marking the beginning of an illustrious career of architectural imagery. Over both a professional and personal relationship, which continued over almost 35 years, Neutra introduced Shulman to many of the leading modernist architects of the time, from Oscar Niemeyer and Mies van der Rohe, to Frank Lloyd Wright and Pierre Koenig.
Reinterpreting each structure two-dimensionally without losing the drama and geometry of the architect’s work was Shulman’s natural talent. However, what set him apart was his appreciation for the natural environment. For the architect behind each project the structure is obviously of primary importance, but for Shulman - a master of composition – each surrounding played a complimentary role. The raw, rocky texture of the weathered desert terrain surrounding a perfectly linear structure, or the mountainous backdrop behind an urban family home, these natural influences were a fundamental element of the design philosophy of many of these great names and nobody portrayed this better than Shulman. While the precariously positioned overhang and the perfect symmetry of the projecting steel beams within the roof of Koenig’s Stahl Residence undoubtedly dominate the image, paying a fitting tribute to the architect’s talent, it is impossible deny the visual impact of the 270-degree city vista which lays beyond the structure.
Julius Shulman’s most celebrated work remains the Case Study House Program (1945-1962), an initiative launched by John Entenza, editor and publisher of Arts & Architecture magazine and a leading figure in the burgeoning growth of modernism in post-war California. Entenza’s call for low-cost residential housing produced what is still regarded as possibly the finest collection of 20th century architecture from the most celebrated architects of the time, immortalized dexterously through the photographer’s lens. He was also instrumental in documenting the impressive homes of Palm Springs, an affluent East Coast enclave.
In 1969 the photographer’s efforts were rewarded when he was awarded the Gold Medal for architectural photography by the American Institute of Architecture and at the recent 17th Annual International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition Shulman was honored with the inaugural lifetime achievement award. Today his monumental archive, now a part of the Getty Research Institute’s colossal image bank, receives more users than any other collection. Containing over 250,000 negatives, contact and vintage prints this is, without a doubt, an impressive body of work from an artist, who, although no longer with us, continues to communicate the spirit of architecture and the art of living.
Julius Shulman, Modernism Rediscovered is available from Taschen Books, priced €250.