Julius Shulman

Julius Shulman
Shulman in 2007
Born(1910-10-10)October 10, 1910
Brooklyn, New York, United States
DiedJuly 15, 2009(2009-07-15) (aged 98)
Occupation(s)Architectural photographer, environmentalist
Years active1936–2009
Spouse(s)Emma (1937–1973, her death); Olga (1976–1999, her death)[1]
Children1

Julius Shulman (October 10, 1910 – July 15, 2009) was an American architectural photographer best known for his photograph "Case Study House #22, Los Angeles, 1960. Pierre Koenig, Architect." The house is also known as the Stahl House. Shulman's photography spread the aesthetic of California's Mid-century modern architecture around the world. Through his many books, exhibits and personal appearances his work ushered in a new appreciation for the movement beginning in the 1990s.

His vast library of images currently resides at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. His contemporaries include Ezra Stoller and Hedrich Blessing Photographers. In 1947, Julius Shulman asked architect Raphael Soriano to build a mid-century steel home and studio in the Hollywood Hills.[2]

Some of his architectural photographs, like the iconic shots of Frank Lloyd Wright's or Pierre Koenig's remarkable structures, have been published countless times. The brilliance of buildings like those by Charles Eames, as well as those of his close friends, Richard Neutra and Raphael Soriano, was first brought to wider attention by Shulman's photography. The clarity of his work added to the idea that architectural photography be considered as an independent art form in which perception and understanding for the buildings and their place in the landscape informs the photograph.

Many of the buildings photographed by Shulman have since been demolished or re-purposed, lending to the popularity of his images.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference nytimes.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Wagener, Wolfgang (2002). Raphael Soriano. Phaidon Press. ISBN 978-0714840635. Archived from the original on 2013-04-20. Retrieved 2013-04-26.