Julius Shulman 1910 - 2009
Julius Shulman, one of the great masters of modern architectural photography, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 98 years old.
Photo Kirsten Kiser
Shulman was the preeminent recorder of early California modernism. By 1927, when he was sixteen, Shulman was already using the family Brownie box camera to document his Southern California surroundings and experiences; in 1936, his professional career was launched when he sent Richard Neutra some not commissioned photographs of the architect's Kun House. Shulman went on to document the famous Case Study Program (architects included Charles and Ray Eames, Pierre Koenig, and Eero Saarinen) and also the architecture of the 1930s through today, especially that of Southern California.
The Shulman’s archives, owned by the Getty Museum, is one of the most comprehensive visual chronologies of modern architecture and the development of the Los Angeles region.
Photo: Kirsten Kiser
Julius Shulman in his archive before the Getty took over. He knew where every single photo was, and had a story to tell about each and everyone of them
Julius was a long time friend, I will miss our cozy lunches and talks. I would bring lunch and a bottle of wine to his studio and we would spend the afternoon talking, going through books and photographs, or taking a walk in his wonderful garden. He was still living in the house Rafael Soriano built for him in the early 1950's.
Photo: Julius Shulman
Case Study Houses
The Complete CSH Program
The CAMERA
Julius Shulman Honorary AIA
The Modernists in Southern California
July 17, 2009