Julius Shulman, Photography Series #7
Photography drives inspiration. In 2011 we want to encourage creativity and design through the showcasing some of the most beautiful architectural photography around. Inspired designers are productive designers – and your journey starts here!
Architectural Photography Series #7 – Julius Shulman
This week we thought we’d take a break from showcasing the best our modern photographers have to offer and take a look back in the past, at one of the most iconic photographs ever taken.
Shulman sadly died in 2009, but he will forever live on through his photography, most notably Case Study House #22, Los Angeles, by architect Pierre Koenig, 1960. The photo was part of a series run by the architectural publication Arts & Architecture magazine looking into American residential architecture. Entitled ‘The Case Study Houses’, the magazine commissioned many top architects of the day to design (and build) model homes for the US housing market that would be both inexpensive and efficient. The likes of Craig Ellwood, Eero Saarinen and Charles and Ray Eames were commissioned to take part. Shulman photographed many of the Case Study Houses which then appeared in Arts & Architecture.
The program ran intermittently from 1945 until 1966. The first six houses were built by 1948 and attracted more than 350,000 visitors. While not all 36 designs were built, most of those that were constructed were built in Los Angeles; a few are in the San Francisco Bay Area, and one was built in Phoenix, Arizona.
Possibly the most well knowm photograph of the entire series was taken of The Stahl House, in LA. The photo depicts 2 women sitting together with the LA sprawl spreading out beyond. The photo depicts the modernist Stahl House and helped spread and represent the Los Angeles modernist style of this period. The house became so iconic that it was used in numerous films and photo shoots.
Speaking about the house itself, Norman Foster once said: “As both image and artefact, Case Study House #22 has long been a touchstone for contemporary architects, and Pierre Koenig’s career-to which his wider body of work bears witness-is one of constancy, and truth to principles”.
Both image and house are icons, living their success side by side.
Are you an architectural photographer interested in taking part in the Photography Series 2011? Why not drop us an email, we’d love to hear from you!
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