Julius Shulman
“Richard Neutra and Me”
1950 printed later
Gelatin Silver Print
S K Josefsberg Studio

TITLE: My Mother
ARTIST: Julius Shulman
WORK DATE: 1935

Julius Shulman – Photographer

Eames House
203 Chataqua
Pacific Palisades, CA
Architect: Eames
Photography: Julius Shulman

Case Study House 22
1635 Woods Drive – Above Sunset/Laurel Canyon
Los Angeles, CA
Architect: Pierre Koenig
Photography: Julius Shulman

“Eye for architecture ”
Renowned photographer to speak in Pasadena
By
Janette Williams Staff WriterPASADENA – “My Dear Shulman, When I let you in on Tallesin West I did not realize you were a professional photographer. I thought you were some artistic youth wanting to try your luck. … I admit that no better photos have been made of the camp than those you send. What technique did you employ in making these admirable prints?”

Frank Lloyd Wright, writing to Julius Shulman in 1950, knew good work
when he saw it. Now, at 96, Shulman is recognized as the preeminent architectural photographer of the age. Shulman will be at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena Saturday to launch the Sidney D. Gamble lecture series. Even people who don’t know Shulman’s name know his work, most famously of the 1960 Case Study House No. 22. The iconic 1932 image of the two young women sitting in a glass box hanging Sunset Boulevard has become the most widely seen architectural photograph in the world, Shulman said.

He and his Kodak Vest Pocket camera – which he still has – were just “in the right place at the right time” in 1936 when his sister introduced him to architect Richard Neutra’s assistant, Shulman said. Neutra liked and bought the pictures Shulman took of his Kun house in the Hollywood Hills and he was on his way.”

Nice story – I’m interested in the “myth”. Being in the right place and the right time that is. i believe you have to make the conditions ripe with opportunity in order to produce (like farming – you must put a fish in the bottom of your hole before you plant the corn) – because it’s easy to produce nothing. I wonder what the back story really is….?

On this architectural photography style – I wonder about the artistic viewpoint? Is this architectural photography really a certain genera of work that belongs simply to “product” photography?

UPDATE:  a little vid of Julius Shulman here…  interesting note in the vid by Shulman about “Iowa Architects” – how true that work such as the work by Shulman is quite the reason for many such “discoveries” –  it’s another example of the eye of the photographer to portray a sense of character of a space (whether you like the style or not) and this is key to convey a sense of mystique… A story here on NPR as well….