Visual Acoustics: A Feast of Photography
I had no sooner attended the exciting screening of “Visual Acoustics, The Modernism of Julius Shulman” on Friday night, when – pow! – I got the news yesterday that Metropolitan Home is closing. The juxtaposition of those two events makes me want to urge every one of you who appreciates modern architecture and great photography to head straight to Landmark Theatres in Washington, DC, to see this inspiring documentary.
The film’s star is Julius Shulman, the extraordinary photographer whose work is inextricably intertwined with the Modernist architectural movement of Southern California. But while Shulman is the lovable human hook, this film also tells the bigger story of modern architecture.
By pure coincidence, Shulman connected with Architect Richard Neutra in 1936, and the rest is history. Shulman’s distinctive images of architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright, John Lautner, Oscar Niemeyer, and Rudolf Schindler make this film a feast of photography. But it’s Case Study House No. 22, by Architect Pierre Koenig, that was Shulman’s most iconic image.
Julius Shulman shot this image and captured a fantasy lifestyle in a glass box overlooking LA, or as designer Tom Ford said in the film, “This popular zeitgeist is caught perfectly in that picture.”
“Visual Acoustics,” which is narrated by Dustin Hoffman, is 83 minutes long, and includes interviews with Architect Frank Gehry, Artist Ed Ruscha, and architectural historians, among others.
Right after the screening, Director Eric Bricker spoke to the audience about what it was like to make this film.
“This was the experience of a lifetime. Julius was a master at living life. There was always a silver lining in everything that happened. That was the No. 1 thing I learned from Julius,” Bricker said.
Tina Alster, Paul Frazer, and the film’s executive producer Lisa Hughes hosted an after-party in Alster and Frazer’s fantastic Georgetown home.
Corinne Davidov visits with “Visual Acoustics” Director Eric Bricker (center) and Paul Frazer, who hosted the after-party.
I spoke to Bricker over cocktails. He talked about how he met Shulman by chance in LA back in the late ’90s when he was looking for some 1930s photographs of San Francisco while working as an art consultant. Someone referred him to their next-door neighbor, who happened to be Shulman.
“I was blown away by his photographs, and I was equally blown away by him as a person,” Bricker said, impressed by Shulman’s talent and wisdom. “The first day I met him, I said, ‘I’m going to be friends with him.’ ”
Bricker said meeting the remarkably talented photographer has been a life-altering experience. “Julius Shulman never went after wealth. It was his connection with nature and his relationships that was his wealth.”
Shulman, who was born on 10/10/1910, passed away last July at age 98. Shulman gave his archives to the Getty Museum, and saw “Visual Acoustics” seven times before he died.
“I don’t know anyone who has lived a fuller life than he did,” Bricker said.
Shirley Thomson, former director of the National Gallery of Canada, with Tina Alster, founding director of the Washington Institute of Dermatologic Laser Surgery, and hostess of the soiree after the screening.
Several top architects attended the screening and the soirée that followed, including the renowned Hugh Newell Jacobsen.
Architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen talks to Washington Spaces Editor in Chief Trish Donnally.
Architect Rudi Djabbarzadeh of Rudi D. and his wife, Interior Designer Fabiola Martens
“Visual Acoustics” is scheduled to play at the Landmark Theatres in DC through Nov. 19th. Don’t miss it. The success of these kinds of small independent films is built on word of mouth. So go see the movie, tell your friends, and let me know what you think.