Case Study
Mid-Century Modern California - that mood of warmth and emptiness at once. Don't you crave that sometimes? Somewhere in the sun, with a martini on the rocks, nary a Don Draper in sight. Just you and your magazines and, beyond your manmade manicured lawn, the desert.
Speaking of seemingly awesome guys who actually suck aren't who they say they are, here's a story:
When I was in college and right after, I worked in the fine art photography world at a couple of galleries. My boss was friends with the now late, great Julius Shulman - the 60's architectural photographer who so stunningly documented the work of Pierre Koenig, Richard Neutra etc. You've probably seen this photo (Case Study House #22), if not others.
Anyway, I had the opportunity to buy a print of the b&w photo in the center left of the collage above. See it larger here. It's so deep (really, as in dimensional) and stunning in real life. It was $700 which was an INSANE bargain for what it was, but for me at the time it was an enormous sum of money - who am I kidding, it's an enormous sum for me now. But I bought it - it was my first investment in art.
Later I dated a guy who had to move to a kind of drab locale at one point, while I stayed behind in New York. We did the long-distance thing, and on one trip I brought the photo along to bring some life to his apartment - we were planning to move in soon so why not start merging stuff? Later, we moved together to another city and the picture of course came with us.
But it turned out he was not who I thought.*
About a year later I moved out. When I left, this guy - who made seriously 10x as much money as I did - really, TEN TIMES - think about that - KEPT THE PHOTO. He said it had been "a gift" and it was wrong for me to take it back. I obviously fought him on this, because it made no sense - but ultimately, rather than spend one more minute in that circle of hell, I left it with him.
I never looked back, and I didn't really regret the relationship because for one thing, it changed my "wish list" for a man so profoundly and so positively. I don't hate him for "wasting" a few of my years, because I gained a lot. But even though I have a wonderful life now, it still hurts me to this day that he has that photo! For one thing, Julius Shulman is dead now and that piece is worth ... ugh I can't think about it. This debacle is one of the only instances in my life (luckily!) where someone really did me wrong and there was no recourse other than to stoop low/waste a lot of time and energy.
Not to sound unromantic - and I know this is a fashion blog and I'm seriously digressing - but if you're moving in with someone and you aren't married, make sure the terms are clear. Don't give it away - metaphorically, spiritually, literally.
Back to fashion: if you explore Shulman's work, you'll start to see his influence here and there in fashion photography (some examples above), especially recently as fashion develops fresher permutations of the Mad Men feel.
XO
*He wasn't who I wanted to think he was- but in retrospect he was who I knew him to be. In the words of Oprah Maya Angelou: "The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them."
Image credits (left to right from top): Julius Shulman, via Desire to Inspire, Paule Ka campaign, Julius Shulman, via Fashion Gone Rogue (all remaining). You might recognize a RARE repeat photo on this blog from this old post.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 11:51PM
Reader Comments (18)
These pictures are lovely!
"Somewhere in the sun, with a martini on the rocks, nary a Don Draper in sight. Just you and your magazines and, beyond your manmade manicured lawn, the desert."
i would love that right now! :)
That ex of yours was a jerk. Too bad he's got the print but good for you that you got out of it and are much happier now!
Great Maya Angelou quote!
awesome photos! I love the vintage look, the old summer times.. it's dreamy...
too bad about that jerk guy you met... but hey.. this are the things that make us stronger and be prepared for whatever comes.. no one will ever fool you once again, I bet...
stay cool!
absolutely gorgeous inspiration!
xx
I also learned the hard way after moving in with my boyfriend of 5 years that he was not who I thought he was. Fortunately, though, he didn't end up with any of my stuff! As if breakups aren't devastating enough, he had to take your art? Not cool, ex-bf, not cool!
I just want to tell you all, the time after the break up was the best time of my life! wooo party times. was awesome.
and i'm married now to a great guy, in case you were worried!!
XO
What a sad story. Karma will come back around and bite him though!
Love your blog!
x Elizabeth / In Between Seams
I can imagine the print was really beautiful in real life. I am sorry to hear he kept it, that's just so rude. ): I might have stolen it back! haha.
ps I subscribed! xo
thanks for sharing such a personal story.
i'm sorry you went thru something so terrible but we definitely all have been there (or somewhere similar) and everyone goes thru some ugly things but as long as we don't give those experiences the power to make us ugly...totally still winning, and you are :)
It was a nice bit of digressing, I prefer it when blogging gets to personal stuff sometimes.... The Maya Angelou quote is a very important one, and one we shouldn't forget. Even though you lost the art, sounds like you gained a great deal after ;-)
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Wow that really sucks, it's beautiful!!!
Maybe you can break in some time to get it back =P
what goes around comes around....
x
I was hanging on your every word... what a story! Beautiful quote, too. And you've made me crave California even more. I am counting the days to my May visit! xo
thanks you guys ... for all your nice comments and for giving an ish about this long story !!
love you!
ann
seriously... I love this vibe.
Speaking of, have you ever seen any of the (superbly creepy) photos taken by the late Larry Sultan? I was taken with his California/Stepford/desolation photos when I saw Into the Sunset at moma. He did some great campaigns, like the 09 Bottega Veneta. Gorgeous lighting, scary-lighting ranch houses, etc.
cheers!
C
I said lighting twice.... oops
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Speaking of, have you ever seen any of the (superbly creepy) photos taken by the late Larry Sultan? I was taken with his California/Stepford/desolation photos when I saw Into the Sunset at moma. He did some great campaigns, like the 09 Bottega Veneta. Gorgeous lighting, scary-lighting ranch houses, etc.-Piaget Altiplano Swiss watches replicas