I m merchandising architecture Julius Shulman

Transcription

1 I m merchandising architecture Julius Shulman Neil Ward Art History Summer 2012 Research Paper

2 Ward 1 JULIUS SHULMAN: MODERN ARCHITECTURE IN FOCUS Before and immediately after WWII, modern architecture was welcomed by corporate America but rarely accepted by the public for domestic dwellings. (Rosa, 88) In the years after World War II, the United States saw an immense population growth as soldiers were coming back from war and starting families. This created a huge problem resulting in housing shortages and building materials. To remedy this issue architects such as Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Raphael Soriano, and Pierre Koenig created plans for modern prefabricated housing that transferred the modern aesthetic from corporate to domestic space. Due to the housing shortages, prefabricated houses filled this need with a low cost, high style, modern aesthetic. The challenge was to convince society to accept modern architecture (flat roof, low profile, modular design, glass walls, etc.) as a domestic space. The modern aesthetic evolved from the International style in Europe and emerged from the Bauhaus and other European-based design schools. This included the economy of space (such as large open multipurpose rooms, built in seating and shelving) and materials (exposed industrial material) and the elimination of detail and ornamentation (Pascal, 12). One can look at the photos of modern architecture, and see the visual cues that characterized these homes, such as a flat roof, a low profile, modular design, glass walls, and for some, an utter lack of curb appeal. Of the small group of architectural photographers in the United States, Julius Shulman developed a humanistic viewpoint of the modernist aesthetic that contributed to the public s acceptance of modern architecture as a home. Because these homes lacked in

3 Ward 2 detail and ornamentation they appeared cold and austere compared to the homes of the 1920 s and 1930 s with their Victorian flourishes and Art Deco streamlining. Shulman brought the human element into these modern glass boxes, by photographing the spaces with home furnishings, showing how people could live in them. Transforming the spaces from cold unwelcoming architectural studies to livable furnished spaces that still showcased the architecture but illustrated a new way of living. Shulman s development and contribution was largely achieved through his photography for the Case Study House program, started in 1945 by John Entenza, Editor of Arts & Architecture magazine. Immediately after WWII John Entenza, publisher and editor of Arts & Architecture magazine, embarked upon an ambitious program of designing and building a series of homes. They were intended to confront the problems of architects, builders, and potential clients during those hectic years of inflation, shortage of materials, and financing difficulties. (Architecture and its Photography, 65) Julius entered architectural photography in 1936 when he accompanied a friend to Richard Neutra s, Kun House in Los Angeles and photographed it. Upon reviewing the photographs Neutra was impressed and hired Shulman to document his other works. In turn Neutra introduced Shulman to such influential and progressive architects as R.M. Schindler, Gregory Ain, and J.R. Davidson. Thus, by the end of 1936 Shulman s logbook of photo assignments read as a who s who of Southern California architects. (Rosa, 42). In the early years, Neutra directed Shulman on a large number of assignments. This included the view of the photograph down to the angle of the camera. Shulman absorbed this direction and over time they reached an understanding that gave Shulman more creative freedom (Rosa, 49). He never waivered in his acknowledgement of Neutra as a

4 Ward 3 major figure who first persuaded him, and taught him how to photograph buildings. (Bricker) SHULMANS HUMANISTIC VIEW OF MODERNISM Building on Neutra s direction of what to include in the frame of his photographs and camera angle, Shulman continued to document these modern, austere spaces by including balanced lighting, home furnishings, the relation of the architecture to the environment and most notably people or witnesses. These techniques gave his photo s and the architect s building, a livable, human quality, which defined his humanistic view of these structures. LIGHTING Lighting was an important part of documenting a home. Shulman mentions this in his 1998 book Architecture and its Photography: light must be respected as the primary tool of photography. Photographers must realize that textures, forms, color, and scale, are all specific products of light control and represent the manifestation of the ideal in a photograph (239). For example, the courtyard photo of Case Study House #22, image 1, demonstrates these qualities. The texture of the carport wall and Image 1 Julius Shulman - CSH#22, The Stahl House overhang of the roof are created by contrasts in the shadows

5 Ward 4 created by the indirect sunlight. The shadows and direct sunlight on the eaves show the rectilinear form of this home. The sunlight on the pool area also gives dimension and form to the rectilinear shape of the pool and diving board. While in the background of this photo, we can see the texture of Los Angeles and the smooth gradation of the sky. Figure 1 is also an ideal representation of Shulman s use of light to highlight the architectural features of a home. Taken midday with the sun overhead, this photo reveals a lot about the architecture of the home. Here Shulman talks a little about shadows: A shadow in a photograph is almost subliminal. [it] echoes the structural elements of the design and reflects or mirrors the structure onto itself, creating a mood establishing an element of recall; that is, the embodiment of structure and form becomes established in the minds eye (Rosa, 69). Entering the terrace and pool area, the large overhang of the roof creates a shadow on the path to enter the home. The sunlight shining through the singular cutout in the roof not only highlights the footbridge over the pool but also brings attention to this architectural element. Further into the photo the darker shadow emphasizes the beginning of the second footbridge, putting each piece into perspective in the mind s eye and giving the viewer a layout of the home. The industrial steel material to build the roof is also emphasized both in the foreground by the reflection of sunlight on the concrete, creating a texture, and again at the opposite end of the house by the sun reflecting off a beam, creating a razor sharp sunlit line that speaks to the scale and rectilinear form of the home. Shulman would study a building in relationship to the landscape and the sun and, depending upon the orientation of the building, would structure his photographing sequence accordingly. (Rosa, 70)

6 Ward 5 When photographing an interior, Shulman feels that technically the primary photographic need is to ensure that the staged interior lighting produces a subtle balance with the intensity of the exterior, whether it is a brilliant oceanfront or a soft early evening effect in a snow covered structure. Therefore, the purpose was to reproduce the specific mood of each house (264). To illustrate this point, look at image 2 (CSH 21) the intensity of the interior is not natural lighting. In most of Shulman s photographs, you will not see the actual light source but rather the effects of a light source. In this particular photo, all the interior spaces are lit up with a consistent brightness. The exterior lighting is subdued thanks to clouds in the sky. The lighting in the photo brings attention to Image 2 Julius Shulman - CSH# the business and domestic spaces in this home. The man is sitting at his desk in his clean, white office, while the woman has just left the kitchen area with a yellow file that matches the kitchen cabinets. It also highlights the smoothness of the surfaces within the home such as the closet doors in the study and the smooth enamel finish of the kitchen cabinets. It also allows the texture of the loose stone and brick in the pool area, the black asphalt in the carport, and the white corrugated roof of the exterior to coexist.

7 Ward 6 SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS OF INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR SPACES We cannot talk about the relationship of interior and exterior spaces without talking about Shulman s use of perspective. That the photographer often places the camera in positions which are not normally those from which a building or an interior are viewed or used, should not be surprising. Shulman often moves a sofa away from the wall, places the camera behind it, and shows it in context (Shulman, 36). This relates directly to contemporary sitcoms and stage sets. The camera is placed where a wall should be and we watch all the action that happens in the space. Looking at image 3, the perspective of the camera is a little higher than that of sitting in Image 3 Julius Shulman - CSH# a chair. This low camera position makes the room look higher and gives the illusion of a more expansive floor area (Photographing Architecture and Interiors, 55). This vantage point is not surprising to viewers, as it might be a view we would expect to see if we were in the home. From here, we also see the dining table through the left doorway, and then, to the right through the open doors, we see patio furniture. This vantage point and composition gives us a proximal location in the home as well as visual cues such as furniture that tie each of these living spaces together, bringing the inside out and the outside in.

8 Ward 7 Furthering this point of combining interior and exterior spaces, take a look at image 4. This photo is of Case Study House #20, the Bass house designed by Altadena, Buff, Straub and Hensman. As we have seen in the previous example, Shulman s perspective is not surprising and he blends both interior and exterior spaces to be shown in his photographs. Image 4 uses a clever perspective, taken at the height of the woman in the photograph. The lens is placed at the front of the structural beam, bringing the interior and exterior living space together by eliminating the barrier of a door and illuminating the interior spaces to the same intensity as the outdoor spaces. The visual cues, such as the soft lighting and wood paneling, make the indoor living spaces appear warm and Image 4 Julius Shulman - CSH#20, The Bass House comfortable. The weatherproof white Saarinen chair along, with the corrugated texture of the roof, signifies the outdoor living space. The red lounge chair ties in nicely with the red painting on the wall, as well as the red cushion on the Saarinen chair, giving the viewer a sense of space and proximity to one another. These colors and textures form the relationship of the indoor and outdoor living spaces.

9 Ward 8 In addition to lighting, this spatial relationship of interior and exterior spaces and perspective adds to Shulman s humanistic view of modern architecture as a domestic space. CONSTRUCTION OF A PHOTOGRAPH Early in his career, an artist friend of Shulman s studied his work and remarked that he possessed the uncanny ability to create perfect dynamic symmetry. As Shulman discovered, his friend meant that he could naturally establish a frame of reference (Shulman, 11). Aside from this natural ability, a few more things needed to be constructed when he photographed man made spaces such as landscaping, movement of furniture and props. LANDSCAPING Many of the houses Shulman photographed were almost complete or just completed, long before any landscaping could develop or furniture could be purchased. Shulman learned how to remedy this from Richard Neutra, who would collect branches of trees and plants and hold them over the camera to give the impression that there was vegetation (Bricker). In a 1990 oral history interview by Taina Rikala De Noriega for the Archives of American Art, Shulman explains: I remember from Neutra. He was always insisting that we photograph his buildings before they were complete, before they were landscaped. Neutra would come with a carload of branches and strew them on the ground, have one of his people hold some branches overhead. And one of the pictures I remember I have Mrs. Neutra's wrist and hand holding a branch on the edge of the negative. [laughter] Without the branches the houses would be naked!

10 Ward 9 Shulman photographed a different property, in West Covina that was again, void of landscaping. Image 5 shows the before of this property. He tells De Noriega that when he showed up, there wasn t a stick of Image 5 Julius Shulman - House landscaping. Not a shrub. He and an assistant rented five-gallon cans of roses and geraniums, whatever they had in bloom and set them up in front of the house and framed the picture with these plants. He also broke off a branch from a walnut tree to fasten to the light stand to make it look like a mature tree was there. Image 6 Julius Shulman House 1954 In the final photo (Image 6) the house looks perfectly landscaped. Funny story about this shoot, Shulman was working for Good Housekeeping at the time Mary Kraft, editor of Architecture and Interiors, was quite pleased when she received this photo. Upon receiving an elated note from her, Shulman made the mistake of confessing to her that the landscape was manufactured. Her return letter scolded him

11 Ward 10 and said Julius, how could you! If I had known that you falsified the landscaping, we would never have published it! (Di Noriega) MOVEMENT OF FURNITURE & PROPS Generally speaking, the interiors of contemporary buildings tend to be particularly closely related to the design of the structure as a whole. To convey this fact in a photograph, it is very necessary to compose scenes relating the two elements. Camera angles dictated furniture displacement, so the photographer must learn to relocate furniture specifically for his compositions. (Photographing Architecture and Interiors, 55) Shulman took it for granted that furniture readjusting would be required on a Neutra assignment. Neutra would arrive with two men from his office and a few select pieces of furniture of his own design and a carpet or two. Two men would remove the furniture Richard did not want in the photo (even down to the draperies if it disrupted the interior/exterior relationship of the house with the landscape) (Rosa, 48). Shulman the photographer is the director and producer of each frame hence the author of each photo. It is commonly known that photographers, architects, and Image 7 Julius Shulman Maslon House 1963 designers often bring props such as furniture, objects and art to an assignment. These objects provide the idealized image of the architecture. Shulman refers to this aspect of preparing a photograph as dressing the scene (Rosa, 85).

12 Ward 11 Shulman, as his daughter Judy McKee explains, also did this: My father would carry half of our household furniture around with him, for props. My father wanted to make it look like someone actually lived there Image 8 Julius Shulman Maslon House 1963 (Bricker). To illustrate this point, look at image 7 + 8, the Maslon House, designed by Richard Neutra. On the shoot, Neutra removed most of the art and furniture (Rosa, 51) resulting in an austere photo (Image 7) that focuses more on the architectural elements such as the exposed steel beams, the curtain glass wall, the flow to the exterior of the house, and the textures of the floor. Shulman went back two weeks later (image 8) and re-photographed the same space the way Mrs. Maslon lived in it, focusing more on delineation of space and how it can be utilized. INCLUSION OF WITNESSES Witnesses, as Esther McCoy mentions in her 1989 Essay The Persistence of Vision, was the term given by nineteenth-century architects for people they included in their architectural drawings to give scale to their buildings. Many of Shulman s commercial and domestic photographs include visual witnesses who illustrate how the spaces could be used. (Rosa, 88)

13 Ward 12 I want to show architecture being functional, and I use people in all sorts of ways in my photographs. The moment a person appears in the picture, it entices the audience of the photo to see another dimension of the architecture: as it appears to the people who live and work in the house (07 Voice). With the inclusion of witnesses, it brings the austere modern aesthetic to something that is warm and livable. Shulman felt his most successful case study photograph was CSH 20, mainly because there are people in it. The young lady had a cocktail glass in her hand; I had her raise that glass. It makes all the difference in the world where her glass was placed (07 Voice). Spontaneous action is the prerequisite (Photographing Architecture and Interiors, 103). Image 9 shows CSH #20, the Bass house, in color. This photograph without the witnesses would still showcase the architecture and Shulman s constructed frame, but it would lack the human element. The idea is that it is not staged for a photograph; rather it is a home that people can, and do live in. All of these combined to create Shulman s humanistic Image 9 Julius Shulman CSH #20, Bass House 1958 viewpoint on the modern aesthetic. ACCEPTANCE OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE AS A DOMESTIC SPACE Still, the challenge remained to convince society to accept the streamline modern aesthetic (flat roof, low profile, modular design, glass walls, etc.) as a domestic space. By including witnesses in his humanistic view this also helped sell or merchandise (07

14 Ward 13 Voice) the architecture. The moment a person appears in the picture, it entices the audience of the photo to see another dimension of the architecture: the architecture as it appears to the people who live and work in the house (07 Voice). This was largely achieved in his photography for the Case Study House program which spanned from 1945 to 1966, and was created by John Entenza, Editor of Arts & Architecture magazine (Smith, 7). Shulman constructed his photographs with witnesses to express and sell the lifestyle that accompanied modern architecture. Shulman notes: I have always used people in my photographs, It is not just a matter of scale; it is a matter of bringing life to a scene [the Greenfield house] had his and her workshops, all the accoutrements of 1950 s living.. in [one] photograph, the woman is all dressed up making jewelry in another photo her husband is throwing a pot. The photographs were intended to show the orderliness of modern living, with the architecture as the key to a new lifestyle. People who live in a house can experience it, but the photographs show them, as well as others, how to see it. (Rosa, 88) Let s take a look at image , the Greenfield house, of the woman creating jewelry in her modern home and her husband throwing clay in his studio. The inclusion of implied human activity in the space tells the story Image 10 Julius Shulman Greenfield House 1950 of how this modern space can be

15 Ward 14 occupied and used by its inhabitants. This made the homes seem more comfortable to the average American consumer paralleling trends in television and magazine advertising which people illustrated in their homes (Rosa, 90). Now let s take a look at three Case Study Houses (20, 21, 22) that embodied the lifestyle and the promise of a new and golden modern life in Southern California (Goldenbarger). Image 11 Julius Shulman Greenfield House 1950 Image 12 shows a woman in the kitchen of Case Study House 20, the Bass house, preparing food dressed in a skirt and heels. Showcasing how this space can be used, along with the relation to the living area on the other side of the counter. Upon further inspection of the photo, we can see she is slicing an orange with a potato peeler. Shulman certainly was creative with his props! Image 13 shows two young women sitting and engaging in Image 12 Julius Shulman CSH#20, Bass House 1958 conversation as the view of Los

16 Ward 15 Angeles twinkles in the background of Case Study House 22, the Stahl house. This is one of the most iconic images of the Case Study House program (Smith, 69) and of his signature style a combination of elegance, personality, and preciseness, which was at its best when in harmony with the optimism and lightness of modernism (Lubbell, 112). The power of this image still resonates with Paul Goldberger, architectural critic for The New York Times: In 1960 the Image 13 Julius Shulman CSH #22, Stahl House 1960 architectural photographer Julius Shulman took a picture of a glass house perched high in the Hollywood Hills that will always be, for me, one of those singular images that sums up an entire city at a moment in time. The house is sleek and white, and its glass walls are cantilevered out over the hills; two elegantly dressed women lounge inside as the lights of the vast sprawl of the Los Angeles basin twinkle below. Modernity and elegance, privacy and openness - things that so rarely went together in the older cities of the East Coast - here become one, bound together in a way that epitomizes the seductive power of Los Angeles in the first years of its heady postwar growth.

17 Ward 16 This photo in particular successfully sold the lifestyle that went along with the modern architecture of southern California. That brings us to the last illustration of selling the lifestyle of modern architecture. Image 14 shows a husband and wife in the living room of Case Study house #21, created by Pierre Koenig. True to constructing a photograph, Shulman said in the 2007 film SHELTER, We put this couch here, the model posed, I observed her ring, ring in focus, the husband - parked the car, putting music on, making a cocktail. - A domestic scene, each part of the photograph illustrating activity in the space. The placement of the couch and woman Image 14 Julius Shulman CSH# in the foreground signifying marriage, which leads our eye to the husband, who is putting on music and fixing himself a cocktail, then a slice of the automobile in the carport indicating his recent arrival home. All of these CSH photographs convey a sense of mood, and tell the story of each home in a relatable manner that reached broad audiences across the United States from through Arts & Architecture magazine among other publications.

18 Ward 17 CONCLUSION Even though it was a challenge to convince society to accept the modern aesthetic as a domestic space, Shulman succeeded by learning how to construct a view of each home that could relate to the buying public. His iconic photographs of these Modern homes not only capture the essence of these structures, which made a number of architect s famous, but also captured the essence of the lifestyle in post war Southern California. These photographs of California have become memory images for us. They embody the modernity, myths, and realities of the landscape as well as a lifestyle that has become equated in the minds of Americans and Europeans alike with the essence of the west coast (Rosa, 102). Decades later we still look at these photographs and marvel about the period of possibility and optimism of Los Angeles that Shulman captured with his camera and published internationally.

19 Ward 18 BIBLIOGRAPHY 07 VOICE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER Julius Shulman Film. Bricker, Eric. Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman. NEW VIDEO GROUP, Film. De Noreiga, Taina Rikala. Oral History Interview with Julius Shulman, 1990 Jan. 12- Feb. 3 - Oral Histories Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Web. 28 July Entenza, John. The Case Study House Program. Arts & Architecture Jan. 1945: Print. Goldberger, Paul. ARCHITECTURE; When Modernism Kissed The Land of Golden Dreams - New York Times. New York Times. Web. 21 July Lubell, Sam, and Douglas Woods. Julius Shulman Los Angeles: The Birth of a Modern Metropolis. Rizzoli, Print. Pascal, Patrick, David Gebhard, and Julius Shulman. Kesling Modern Structures: Popularizing Modern Design in Southern California st ed. Balcony Press, Print.

20 Ward 19 BIBLIOGRAPHY CONTINUED Rosa, Joseph, and Esther McCoy. A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman. Rizzoli, Print. SHELTER - Julius Shulman Film. Shulman, Julius. Photography of Architecture and Design, The. 2nd pr. Watson-Guptill Publications, Print Julius Shulman: Architecture and Its Photography. First ed. Ed. Peter Gossel. Taschen, Print Photographing Architecture and Interiors. New York. Whitney Publications, Print. Smith, Elizabeth A. T. Case Study Houses. 25 Jahre TASCHEN. Taschen Deutschland GmbH+, Print.

21 Ward 20 IMAGE LIST Image 1 A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman. Pg Case Study House #22 The Stahl House, Los Angeles Pierre Koenig Image 2 Case Study Houses. Pg Case Study House #21 West Hollywood Pierre Koenig Image 3 Case Study Houses. Pg Case Study House #3 Los Angeles William W. Wurster and Theodore Bernardi Image 4 Case Study Houses. Pg Case Study House #20 The Bass House - Pasadena Altadena, Buff, Straub and Hensman Image 5 A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman. Pg House West Covina Cliff May and Chris Choate

22 Ward 21 IMAGE LIST CONTINUED Image 6 A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman. Pg House West Covina Cliff May and Chris Choate Image 7 A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman. Pg Maslon House Cathedral City Richard Neutra Image 8 A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman. Pg Maslon House Cathedral City Richard Neutra Image 9 Case Study Houses. Pg Case Study House #20 The Bass House - Pasadena Altadena, Buff, Straub and Hensman Image 10 A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman. Pg Greenfield House, Los Angeles Arthur Swab

23 Ward 22 Image 11 A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman. Pg Greenfield House, Los Angeles Arthur Swab Image 12 Case Study Houses. Pg Case Study House #20 The Bass House, Pasadena Altadena, Buff, Straub and Hensman Image 13 A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman. Pg Case Study House #22 The Stahl House, Los Angeles Pierre Koenig Image 14 A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman. pg Case Study House #21 Los Angeles Pierre Koenig