Julius Shulman Los Angeles: The Birth of a Modern Metropolis Hardcover – Box set, April 5, 2011

Julius Schulman was one of the most prolific and talented photographers of his time focusing most of his career on architectural photography. Many of his photographs are iconic and capture a Los Angeles that in many cases no longer exists in the same form that it once did. He truly grew up with the city and in his photographs capured the metamorphasis that it underwent. Many of his photographs are like pieces of art; to be looked at and appreciated for their composition as well as what they are taken of. The only negative thing I can say about this book, and it is the reason for me not giving it a five star rating is the paper that was sed in the book. I may be nit picking but it is so easy to mar a dark photograph with any residue of any kind on your fingers even when washed thoroughly. It's like you have to view this book with gloves to preserve the beauty of the book itself and that shouldn't be the case. I have never experienced this with a book before and was especially iritated with this given the cost of the book.

This may very well be the best Los Angeles photography book i've ever come across and i've seen many of them. Julius Shulman's images of LA modernism are well known, but now we can also see his photographs of LA's other styles of architecture like Beax Arts, Art Deco, etc. I will have to disagree with the "product description", however. One of the best things about this book for me is that the majority of the buildings shown here are still standing.

Beautiful book. I've always loved Shulman's photos, and this doesn't disappoint. Not only are there some of the usual hits from his more familiar Modernist work, but he captures the budding years of Los Angeles perfectly. For those who love history as well as stunning visuals, buy this book.

Julius Shulman is the man responsible for bringing mid-century modern architecture to the consciousness of the masses, through his imagery. Los Angeles, and California, has some of the best examples of this fine architecture in the world, and Sir Julius more than does its magnificence justice. RIP good sir.

Quick delivery and item as stated. This is a gift so I did not open the book.

I never knew LA could look so good. This book is a must for people who enjoy see a city when it was at its high point.

Loved this book, it's amazing.Shipping arrived in good time :)

What a surprising book! I'm familiar with Julius Schulman's work having bought the comprehensive Taschen  Julius Shulman, Modernism Rediscovered  and I've seen some other books of his photos but all of them are essentially concerned with architectural photos from his long career. The nice thing about this book is that it looks at the human face Los Angeles, of course there are plenty of building photos in the architectural style of having no people present and the Houses chapter probably has the most of this photo-type but in the rest of the book it's everyday LA in the forties to the seventies.The five chapters: City; Development; Houses; Living; Work cover an amazing collection of photo opportunities and it seems that Schulman could never turn down an assignment. Page 178 has a 1965 photo from Farm Profit magazine showing a family round the dining table just about to eat a Thanksgiving meal, page 182 has a photo of a Newport Beach car wash from 1954, page 191 features a 1951 home economics class at the Portola High School, El Cerrito, page 223 shows a conveyer belt full of potato chips in the Bell Brand Foods plant in 1954. All of these are examples of Schulman's work I never expected to see and that's why I think the book is rather special. Nicely, throughout the pages, there are a few of the old favorites: the night scene of LA from Koenig's Case Study House 22; the evening shot of Neutra's Kaufman House with the fading sunset on the horizon; the May Company store on Wilshire Boulevard.The landscape format works well, LA is more a horizontal city than upright (for decades there was a building height restriction of only thirteen floors which was eased in 1956 though it is only in recent years with developments like Century City that the city has started to be more vertical). This is essentially a photo book, there are only nine text pages in the first pages, the rest is captioned photos, which are printed with a 200 screen to bring out the detail. An Index would have been useful.The book is the prefect complement to  Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940-1990  a title that looks at how LA became a powerhouse of creativity in architecture and the commercial arts.