The Curious Autodidact

Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman (2008) was an unexpected delight of a movie. This documentary tells the story of photographer Julius Shulman who made a name for himself doing architectural photography. You get such a great portrait of how much respect Shulman has for design and art in this marvelous film. I watched it wanting to learn about his life as a photographer but learned quite a bit about modern architecture in the mix. If you have read much about Frank Lloyd Wright or toured any homes and buildings he has designed you will be even more captivated.

The New York Times did a review of the movie here.

Here’s a encapsulation of the film from director Eric Bricker’s website:

Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, VISUAL ACOUSTICS celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, the world’s greatest architectural photographer, whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. Shulman, who passed away this year, captured the work of nearly every modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Frank Gehry. His images epitomized the singular beauty of Southern California’s modernist movement and brought its iconic structures to the attention of the general public. This unique film is both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the magnetic, whip-smart gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images.