L. A. OBSCURA
THE ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY OF JULIUS SHULMAN
Giselle Arteaga-Johnson et al.
Giselle Arteaga-Johnson et al.: L. A. OBSCURA: THE ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY OF JULIUS SHULMAN. Los Angeles: University of Southern California, Fisher Gallery, 1998. Original edition. Oblong quarto. Photo illustrated printed wrappers. 55 pp. Essays illustrated with 45 black and white photo reproductions. Interior unmarked and very clean. Out-of-print and uncommon. Wrappers lightly rubbed, but a nearly fine copy. Unsigned, thus rare.
10.5 x 8.365 softcover catalog with 55 pages and 45 black and white photo reproductions, produced by the Fisher Gallery for the annual exhibition curated by USC's Museum Studies Program. With Bibliography and Checklist of the Exhibition. All photographs by Julius Shulman.
Includes photography of buildings by Rudolph Schindler, Pierre Koenig, Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano, Ralph Davidson, Gregory Ain, Gordon Drake, Albert Frey, A. Quincy Jones, Frederick Emmons, and others.
Photographer Julius Shulman's (United States, 1910 – 2009) images of Californian architecture have burned themselves into the retina of the 20th century. A book on modern architecture without Shulman is inconceivable. 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 friend, Richard Neutra, was first brought to light by Shulman's photography.
The clarity of his work demanded that architectural photography had to be considered as an independent art form. Each Shulman image unites perception and understanding for the buildings and their place in the landscape. The precise compositions reveal not just the architectural ideas behind a building's surface, but also the visions and hopes of an entire age. A sense of humanity is always present in his work, even when the human figure is absent from the actual photographs.
Today, a great many of the buildings documented by Shulman have disappeared or been crudely converted, but the thirst for his pioneering images is stronger than ever before. This is a vivid journey across six decades of great architecture and classic photography through the famously incomparable eyes of Julius Shulman.
“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 light by Shulman's photography. The clarity of his work demanded that architectural photography had to be considered as an independent art form. Each Shulman image unites perception and understanding for the buildings and their place in the landscape. The precise compositions reveal not just the architectural ideas behind a building's surface, but also the visions and hopes of an entire age. A sense of humanity is always present in his work, even when the human figure is absent from the actual photographs.” [Wikipedia]