I was able to see a preview of this show during it’s hanging – most of the work was still on the floor. What follows is really just a few random thoughts put together about what I perceive along with what I was told. If you read the last Palm Springs report you will know that I regard JS to be one of the dominant forces in photographing the modern period of architecture – in fact he has been a force since the 1930’s when he started photographing R. M. Schindler and Richard Neutra’s work as early as 1936. Then moving into the 40 – 50’s working with the Eames, Saarinen and the Case study houses, JS could have pretty much rested his career right about then.
The exhibition currently on display at the Palm Springs Museum is basically centered around four of the predominant Architects work in, plus a smattering of highly notable images from his past. The four (Richard Neutra, William F. Cody, Albert Frey, and E.Stewart Williams) architects are the core of Palms Springs modern (I would also add Donald Wexler and The Krisel/Alexander architect/builder team).
The work in the show is some of the best architectural photography ever made. Much of the work is still the benchmark to all architectural photography being produced today. Really it’s an embarrassment of riches. It’s interesting – the photography is so good it gets out of the way after a while – what I mean is that you start focusing on the buildings and what is good and great about each architectural vision – so you need to be careful about how you look at the work because you can get lost in the details pretty easily.
Highly Recommended.
Kaufmann house, Richard Neutra, 1946. Photo: 1947
Copyright J. Paul Getty Trust. Used with permission.
Julius Shulman Photography Archive
Research Library at the Getty Research Institute