Althouse: "He makes you see what you take for granted. And we do that in our houses. We do that in our marriages. We do that with our children."

March 26, 2009

"He makes you see what you take for granted. And we do that in our houses. We do that in our marriages. We do that with our children."

"He has ability to stop time and let you see it and to remember why you fell in love with it."

17 comments:

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...: A generic point: as in chess, an outsider's view is better than those playing the game.

I just love his work, and the objects of his work. I love mid-century modern architecture, even if my partner thinks that the buildings are cold and lacking a soul. I like good architecture in general from classical, pre-romanesque, romanesque to this. Thanks for posting this, professor.; 3/26/09, 9:13 AM
The Dude said...: Nice photographs of buildings that speak to their time and place.

The house mounted on the column is kind of scary. I have been through plenty of California earthquakes and I can imagine that inverted pendulum being set in motion - not a thing I would wish to experience.

The picture was good enough to evoke that sensation - well done.; 3/26/09, 9:22 AM
dix said...: From the title I thought it was just another NYT article on Obama; 3/26/09, 9:22 AM
paul a'barge said...: I was all huff'n'puff'in' about NPR (hate it) and Susan Stamberg (hate her) but that guy is cool!

Somedays you just get surprised.; 3/26/09, 9:25 AM
FRANCESCA said...: Thank you for posting this article.
I love his thought - you don't "shoot" a picture, he hasn't a gun - but rather we capture the spirit of what we see, what speaks to us and ahh yes, never taking anything for granted.; 3/26/09, 9:34 AM
paul a'barge said...: Sigh. You just know that you can't read two pieces in a row from NPR without having your moral outrage triggered.

Check out the comments. And weep that these people take home a paycheck every week that you pay for.

Will no one ever liberate us from NPR? I guess not.; 3/26/09, 9:36 AM
Bissage said...: He makes you see what you take for granted.

I remember looking at a book of Mr. Shulman’s images when I was a wee lad in the 1970s.

To me, with my downscale tract house sensibility, he might just as well have been taking pictures of spacecraft built by some highly advanced civilization from outer space.

It never occurred to me that those buildings actually existed in the real world and it certainly never occurred to me that a person could become overly familiar with such wondrous things and take them for granted.

Now that I’m a grownup, I realize a person can eventually get used to just about anything and take just about anything for granted.

This said, I’m glad that Mr. Shulman is a vibrant 98 years old.

Still, we ought not take him for granted.; 3/26/09, 10:08 AM
Kirk Parker said...: Wow, he sure doesn't look 98 years old in that photo.; 3/26/09, 10:10 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: The color photograph of the Hancock Park home looks like it has a rack of post cards under the arch.; 3/26/09, 11:20 AM
Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...: Chip, it is a postcard rack.; 3/26/09, 11:26 AM
traditionalguy said...: Taking pictures of events and people in a semi-candid way of the photog in the background, is a great tool to remember and appreciate the "reality" we enjoy in a fleeting moment. Those same pictures 10, 30, 50 years later are an eye opening experience. Time proves that the real world is fleeting and soon gone. The scriptures tell us that the eternal spiritual realm is all that lasts, and therefore it is not a waste of our time to seek that that realm as a part of a wise life.; 3/26/09, 11:43 AM
Bissage said...: Those same pictures 10, 30, 50 years later are an eye opening experience.

Shorpy.

Have fun.

(But don't get lost in time and forget to come back to Althouse!); 3/26/09, 12:01 PM
Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...: Bissage, this is part of our local history, enjoy as well :); 3/26/09, 12:29 PM
BJM said...: I love to browse the Getty collection. Did you know that the Shulman archive is not only the Getty's largest, it fills two-and-a-half aisles of steel shelves 12 feet high and 20 feet long, but its images are the most requested?

This is one of my favorite Shulman's.; 3/26/09, 12:37 PM
BJM said...: This one pretty cool too. I remember those gas stations and Continental Kits; fill it up with ethel, Bud.

This photo so captures the 50's optimism and the powerful, chrome encrusted cars we so lusted after before they became objects of shame and ridicule.; 3/26/09, 12:48 PM
Bissage said...: Back in the 1950s, my dad lost his job when he got caught pumping Ethel behind the station.; 3/26/09, 2:44 PM
blake said...: Stop time?

Awwww, I thought this was gonna be about a pookah!; 3/26/09, 2:52 PM