Julius Shulman, the Los Angeles-based architectural photographer, had an illustrious career spanning over seven decades. Shulman ignited widespread interest in modernist architecture and helped to shape the image of modern architecture as it has been remembered in history. Shulman elevated the craft of architectural photography to a high-art form, preserving the work of figures such as Richard Neutra, Charles and Ray Eames, Raphael Soriano, Rudolf Schindler, Frank Lloyd Wright, Pierre Koenig, and John Lautner for generations to come. As Neutra poignantly said of Shulman's photography: “His work will survive me. Film is stronger and good glossy prints are easier to ship than brute concrete, stainless steel, or even ideas.”

While he never received any formal training and was primarily self-taught, Shulman audited courses at UCLA and UC Berkeley in the mid-1930s. With his Vest Pocket Kodak close at hand, he returned to Los Angeles from Berkeley in 1936. Shulman accompanied a contact he had at the time, one of Richard Neutra's draftsman, to a site visit of Neutra's Kun Residence. He created a total of six photographs on this particular visit, which Neutra championed and later purchased. Neutra went on to introduce Shulman to other architects, which catapulted his career as a photographer. Shulman also collaborated on various projects with artists such as the German industrial and architectural photographer Juergen Nogai.

In 2005, the Getty Research Institute acquired Shulman’s archive of over 260,000 prints. His work has been shown in major museums and gallery exhibitions around the world, in addition to being published widely in hundreds of magazines and books. Taschen and Nazraeli Press are amongst a long list of clients who have sought after his photographic services. Shulman, who worked until the age of 98, is the only photographer to have been granted a lifetime membership in the American Institute of Architects.

Elizabeth Armstrong, The Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury (Newport Beach: Orange County Museum of Art and Prestel Publishing, 2007) 33.

“Julius Shulman.” International Center of Photography. International Center of Photography, n.d. Web. 11 Jun. 2018.

“Julius Shulman.” Craig Krull Gallery. Edited by Craig Krull Gallery. Craig Krull Gallery, n.d. Web. 11 Jun. 2018.