Julius Shulman, real estate photographer
With Monday morning off before that evening's Pomona council meeting, I took Metrolink into downtown L.A. to see "Julius Shulman's Los Angeles," an exhibit of Shulman's architectural photos at the Central Library, on view through Jan. 20.
Shulman, who was born in 1910 and is still at it, has watched L.A. longer than about anybody. One of the first photos in the show was shot in 1933 and is described as a view of City Hall "from the Union Station construction site."
There are photos of the Bradbury Building interior, the last two Victorians on Bunker Hill in the '60s, Century City, Wilshire Boulevard, Case Study House No. 22, dingbat apartments, bungalow courts and the Watts Towers. Especially illuminating were a couple of photos that showed how Shulman manipulated the surroundings to show off his subjects in a flattering light.
Let's just say the Case Study House -- the famous image is of two sophisticated women in white seen through a floor-to-ceiling window as the city's lights twinkle below them, one of L.A.'s most iconic photos -- wasn't quite as magical before Shulman got to work.
A couple of local connections figure in for you architecture buffs. Several photos show buildings by Welton Becket, who designed the Pomona Civic Center, and another shows a Wilshire department store by Stiles O. Clement, who's responsible for Pomona's old Sears store.
The exhibit is in the Library's Getty Gallery. Afterward you can marvel anew at the wraparound mural in the adjacent Lowdrick M. Cook Rotunda, and maybe even look at some books. Oh, and the admission price is right: free.
(Incidentally, the title of today's entry is a play on a Ben Katchor book. Extra credit if you look it up.)
I cannot believe you get paid to do such interesting things . . . and for eating! Anyway, you may already have Gebhard and Winter's Guide to Southern California/LA Architecture, but if you don't, it's a tremendous sightseeing asset. I used to work within a couple of blocks of the "troll's cottage" in Culver City.
[I bought the book earlier this year but admittedly haven't done more than page through it. There's lots of LA for me to still explore... And incidentally, while my LA jaunt definitely qualifies as an interesting thing, I didn't get paid to do it (nor do I get paid for eating, darn the luck). It was on my own time, before my shift started. -- DA]
David...got a chuckle over your title...obvious spoof of Ben Katchor's "Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer" comic strip ...
[You got it! -- DA]