Visual Acoustics offers new perspective on modern architecture

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By Charles Nunmaker

Architecture is arguably one of today's most overlooked art forms. It not only demands attention but also demands an individual's appreciation for the form itself. Many people have appreciated architecture throughout their lives, but no one probably appreciated architecture like Julius Shulman.

In an upcoming film showing at the Manship Theatre as part of the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmakers, the film "Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman" delves into Shulman's lifetime career of architectural photography.

Julius Shulman is regarded as the greatest architectural photographer. Through Shulman's career, he brought modernistic architecture and design into the America's mainstream.

Shulman's photographs are astounding testaments of his work. Each image shows Shulman's genius through his unique architectural perspective that blend with the natural setting in which they were placed.

Director of the film, Eric Bricker, saw Shulman's genius when they first met. Bricker was able to see past the photographer into what was a more interesting individual. With Shulman, Bricker made this documentary that explored the life and career of Julius Shulman and the evolution and diversity of modern architecture in America.

"The idea really was to give a portrait of Julius as not only a photographer, but just as a person. I think he was just this remarkable person who had a very different perspective and approach to life," said director Eric Bricker.

He continued, "The idea was to present him first to the audience and hoping to win the audience over by letting them connect emotionally to this character of Julius. Then through him, he is almost our guide through this larger story of modern architecture and design."

"I think for people who don't really know [architecture], this might be a foreign world to study, [but] it might not be so intimidating by having Julius lead you through these different spaces," said Bricker. "Whether it's an actual space that appears on screen - like a house that we might study or the Disney Concert Hall or his photography - when you know that he is kind of holding your hand and walking you through this...it really just brings the ideas of architecture and design to the human scale and how those actually relate to you, the audience member, on an individual basis."

Bricker has been able to bring this film to many different film festivals before, where the film has achieved awards such as the "Audience Award Winner for Documentary" at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and Austin Film Festival. The film was also the "Grand Jury Prize Winner for Documentary Feature" at the Lone Star International Film Festival. Bricker has been there to experience the success of the film:

"The film's success has been overwhelming in the fact that the intention of the film was to let a larger number of people get the opportunity to meet Julius, who was just an extraordinary individual, and for people to understand the intent behind the architecture - what these architects and designers really intended for the public," said Bricker.

"Ultimately, I think what they were doing was that they wanted to enhance our lives and make our lives better through good designs. I really think there were some pure intentions behind their work," he added.

Unfortunately, Julius Shulman passed away last year, but you can still appreciate Shulman's work through "Visual Acoustics."

"Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman" is showing at the Manship Theatre on Thursday, Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m.

Originally Published: Issue 863 - February 3, 2010

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