Master of Technique, Student of Nature

Julius Shulman, world-renowned photographer of architecture, who turned 91 last month, had a gift for making buildings come to life. His secret? He knew how to chase the sun, watching patterns of light for hours before picking up his camera.

“Whether I enjoy the sun, a beautiful person or a building, the spirit of nature imbues me with a sense of beauty and appreciation for life that is reflected in my photographs,” said the retired Shulman, who lives in a classic ‘50s-style home designed by Raphael Soriano in the Hollywood Hills. “I go out to my garden a lot. I listen to the birds and the water trickling down the canyon.”

Forty works by Shulman that span seven decades and document Southern California’s Modernist design and style will be on display in a retrospective exhibit at the House of Photographic Art gallery in San Juan Capistrano through Nov. 15.

His love of nature was reflected in Modernist designs by architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, Pierre Koenig, Ray Eames, Soriano, Rudolf Schindler and Eero Saarinen. Shulman says he simply absorbed the beauty that he saw.

“The spirit of photography is predicated upon breathing some life into the building. A building is not just a box with concrete, it has life in it,” Shulman said. “And if I don’t register the animation--what’s it like living and working in the building--then I lose my credibility.”

A master technician, he was methodical in his camera work. When he photographed a site, Shulman would begin in the early morning and pace around the building. Based on the landscape, materials, orientation of the house and its major features, he determined what spot was best to shoot from in the morning, in the afternoon and at twilight.

As early as 9 a.m., the camera shutters would be clicking. By 11 a.m., shadows would reveal the textures of building materials. As if he were reading a sun dial, Shulman would take snapshots at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. at precise spots according to the movement of the sun.

“Oh, yes, there is hurry, if you don’t catch the fleeting sunlight and shadows in seconds and minutes, you’re losing the quality and definition of the material. You have to know of the quality of sunlight,” Shulman said. “Nothing is by chance.”

His keen attention to artificial and natural lighting put him at the right place at the right time. His textured lighting, using indirect sources, allowed him to emphasize specific shapes of the buildings’ interior or exterior.

A longtime friend of landscape photographer Ansel Adams, Shulman said his works have been compared with Adams’ in their ability to add dimension to subjects.

“We saw the same things about nature. The buildings were a part of the natural environment.”

Serendipity played a part in the cameraman’s career, which began in the 11th grade with an art appreciation course at Roosevelt High in Los Angeles in 1926. He toted his parents’ Kodak Brownie on assignments.

A decade later, Shulman was hired by Neutra after the architect viewed a snapshot of a house he designed. Shulman’s career in architecture photography was launched.

Among the images in the exhibit is a collection of 12 best-selling photographs designated the “Icons of Architecture.”

They include: Neutra’s Kaufmann House in Palm Springs and Singleton House in Los Angeles; the Malin Residence (Chemosphere) in Hollywood and the Arango House in Mexico by John Lautner; Wright’s Freeman House in Los Angeles; Koenig’s Case Study House No. 22 in Los Angeles; and Eames’ Case Study House No. 8 in Pacific Palisades.

There are also lesser known photos of the Watts Towers by Simon Rodia and the Bradbury Building in Los Angeles by George W. Hyman.

Shulman’s oeuvre fills volumes. In the last seven years, he’s worked closely with art book publisher Benedikt Taschen and released “Julius Schulman: Architecture and Its Photography,” and “Neutra: Complete Works.” Another book, tentatively titled “Julius Schulman: His Odyssey,” is due in 2002.

“It’s good business,” Shulman said, adding that books of his work have sold out and next year’s release will probably be his last.

Looking at his own work, Shulman is always seeing new shadows, form and details he hadn’t noticed before, especially in his black and white photographs.

“Color is like a veneer, like a woman using too much makeup,” Shulman said. “With a good black and white picture, you embody the contrasts from one material to the other--color doesn’t capture that.”

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“Shulman Retrospective and Icons of Architecture,” House of Photographic Art, 27182 Ortega Highway, San Juan Capistrano. Gallery hours: By appointment only. Ends Thursday. (949) 496-3330.