Architecture Photographer Explains How He Captured That Remarkable New York Magazine Cover Shot

Shooting in the dark, with a handheld camera, in a vibrating helicopter, 5,000 feet above land sounds like a photographer’s nightmare. But Iwan Baan made it look easy. The Dutch photographer’s image of a half-illuminated, half-powerless New York City in the wake of Hurricane Sandy captured the nation’s attention on the cover of New York magazine.

  “It was the only way to show that New York was two cities, almost. One was almost like a third world country where everything was becoming scarce. Everything was complicated. And then another was a completely vibrant, alive New York.”

 Baan made the image Wednesday night after the storm, using the new Canon 1D X with the new 24-70mm/2.8L II lens on full open aperture. The camera was set at 25,000 ISO, with a 1/40th of a second shutter speed. “[It was] the kind of shot which was impossible to take before this camera was there,” Baan said.

 It was more difficult to rent a car than a helicopter in New York the day after Sandy, Baan said. And because there was such limited air traffic so soon after the storm, air traffic control allowed Baan and the helicopter to hover very high above the city, a powerful advantage for the photo. “With these aerials you shoot a lot, bursts of images, to finally pick one out there which is sharp,” Baan said. “It’s difficult if it’s freezing outside, you don’t have a door, helicopter is moving and vibrating, etc., but you really work towards an idea, visualization of that image which you have in mind.” “In a way, it all worked out perfectly,” Baan said. “You never know when something like this happens. If one thing would have changed, the picture wouldn’t exist.” [via poynter]

Photographer Profile ~ Julius Shulman

Julius Shulman (October 10, 1910 – July 15, 2009) is considered to be the most important architectural photographer in history, best known for his iconic photographs of the Case Study Houses. Notably his CSH #22, The Stahl House designed by Pierre Koenig, was published many times as one of Shulman's best works. He was a pioneer of modern architecture photography, and helped mid century modern architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, and Pierre Koenig to get to wider audience.

For 70 years, Shulman steadily created one of the most comprehensive visual chronologies of modern architecture and the development of the Los Angeles region. The photographs in this post are selected from his portfolio of more than 70,000 images.

The clarity of his work demanded that architectural photography had to be considered as an independent art form. Each Shulman image unites perception and understanding for the buildings and their place in the landscape. The precise compositions reveal not just the architectural ideas behind a building's surface, but also the visions and hopes of an entire age. A sense of humanity is always present in his work, even when the human figure is absent from the actual photographs.

Today, a great many of the buildings documented by Shulman have disappeared or been crudely converted, but the thirst for his pioneering images is stronger than ever. [via wiki and other sources]

Julius Shulman's iconic image: Designed by Pierre Koenig in 1959 for Buck Stahl as part of the Case Study Houses sponsored by Arts & Architecture Magazine, the Stahl house achieved its fame, in part, due to Shulman’s iconic image. The glass house appears to levitate over the Los Angeles skyline. Shot at f32 on his 4x5 camera, he used two flash heads for the interior and kept the shutter open for 5 minutes to expose for the city lights.

Shulman setting up for the now iconic shot (with a very long sync cord)

 Shulman uses branches and plants to help frame the shot.

 Julius Shulman and architect Richard Neutra at the Tremaine House

Tremaine House
German born photographer Jürgen Nogai and Julius Shulman began a rewarding collaboration in 2000 which lasted almost a decade until Shulman's death in 2009. This is one of my favourite images and homes photographed by the duo. 

Winner of several awards including Best Documentary at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Lone Star Festival,‘Visual Acoustics – The Modernism of Julius Schulman’ is an elegant, considered and unreservedly lavish expose of the most prolific architectural photographer of our time.

This interview, conducted at the age of 98, and one of his last, shows the tremendous enthusiasm for photography and enduring spirit he had right up to the end of his amazing life.

Documentary About Architectural Photographer Julius Shulman ~Visual Acoustics Theatrical Trailer