Transcending the Frame — Architectural Photographers Julius Shulman and Juergen Nogai
In Built Upon Love: Architectural Longing After Ethics and Aesthetics (MIT Press), architectural historian Alberto Perez-Gomez puts forward the enticing idea that “true architecture is concerned with far more than fashionable form, affordable homes, and sustainable development.” The architecture he speaks of responds to the aspiration for an eloquent place to live. Julius Shulman’s magnificent oeuvre of photography maintains that the impression of order resonant with the occupant’s dreams is well within the domain of such architecture. A sublime lucidity anchors the compositions of spaces photographed by Shulman. Even at 98, he remained a paragon of California Cool. Though laid-back, his mastery over the medium was palpable. An exemplary eight-decade career elevated his work to iconic status and him to legend. Shulman transcended the frame by perfectly representing that invisible quality of carefree glamour, so eagerly sought throughout the world, despite its ephemeral nature.
Just weeks before Julius Shulman’s passing from this world, Fabrik had the privilege of accompanying textile designer and family friend Alexandra Becket for an interview, at his Laurel Canyon residence and studio. Designed for him in 1949 by noted Modernist architect Raphael Soriano, it is now designated an architecturally significant structure, due to its being the only remaining unaltered steel frame house built by Soriano. Last year, as a cloth-bound limited edition of 1000, Nazraeli Press published by Shulman and Soriano, Julius Shulman: The Building of My Home and Studio. Still embodying his desire to narrate the beauty and livability of modern architecture, Shulman elegantly demonstrated the harmony of his own intentionally balanced environment. Although his photographs reflect what most pursue within the California dream: that intoxicating blend of ambition, success and glamour, his life and career appear the result of an incredible consistency of vision. Continue…
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SPF:A // MODAA
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This portfolio is drawn from an exhibition at the Edward Cella Gallery in Santa Barbara that explores – through the drawings of one of the most important architectural illustrators of his time – the transformation of Los Angeles as it matured from a loose conurbation into the more self-conscious, consolidated, and monumental metropolis we know [...]
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