Biography

Julius Shulman was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1910 and moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1920. His career as an architectural photographer began in 1936, when he photographed Richard Neutra’s recently completed Kun House. Impressed by the photographs, Neutra commissioned Shulman to document further projects. Through this connection, Shulman soon received assignments from many of the leading architects of American Modernism, including R. M. Schindler, Raphael Soriano, John Lautner and Pierre Koenig.

Over the course of a career spanning more than seven decades, Shulman documented the development of modern architecture and, in particular, the profound transformation of Southern California. His photographs went far beyond the purely documentary representation of buildings. Through carefully chosen perspectives, staged figures and the integration of the surrounding landscape, he conveyed an idea of how modern architecture could be inhabited and experienced. Widely published, his photographs played a significant role in shaping the international image of Californian Modernism and its associated lifestyle.

Shulman became particularly renowned for his photographs of the Case Study Houses. Initiated by the magazine 'Arts & Architecture' in 1945, the program explored new concepts for modern and economical housing in response to the changing needs of the post-war era. Leading architects including Charles and Ray Eames, Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano and, later, Pierre Koenig developed experimental residences in which modern materials, industrial construction methods and new approaches to living played a central role. Shulman photographed the majority of the Case Study projects, and his images contributed significantly to their public reception and lasting influence.

Julius Shulman died in Los Angeles in 2009 at the age of 98. His extensive photographic archive is today held by the Getty Research Institute and represents an important visual record of twentieth-century architecture and the development of the Los Angeles region.

Objects by Julius Shulman