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LETTER TO THE ED ITO R
FROM THE CR EATO R O F M ETE
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V IRAL GOODS TH AT W I LL M A K E YO U R L I FE & I NSTAG R A M FEED B ETTER
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LO G I N
F O O D F O R B LO G F U E L , IN S IDE S FV’S ART S D IS T R IC T, & F ID ML A S T U DE N T WO RK
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FOR SOCIAL INFLUENCERS
EDITOR AND CREATOR JADE GARDIPEE
METE is defined in the English language to mean “to
METE focuses on giving bloggers just that, by issuing
distribute or apportion by measure; allot.” We’re ready to
out the latest trends and news in the web-blogging
dish out, so you can too.
industry. METE is your ironically tangable source for a
METE magazine is a place where bloggers can finally
digital industry.
get in touch with their roots. Before online blogs, mag-
We’re harvesting a community that makes better
azines gave influential instruction and advice for those
content, builds a relevant following, and develops
in the arts or trades.
solid brands.
EDITOR IN CHEIF RANDY DUNBAR
GRAPHIC DESIGN JADE GARDIPEE
ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHY ZULU JABRI
FOR SOCIAL INFLUENCERS
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EDITOR MESSAGE FROM THE
Jade Gardipee
I believe that in every creative endeavor we pursue, it’s important to integrate a small piece of ourselves into the project. Subconciously we may already do this, but it’s being concious of your passion and the creative energy driving you that truely brings a project from a task to a work of art. By finding our inner influence, we can begin to influence others. The courage that social influencers hold to staying true to themselves while sharing that to the world is what inspired me to create METE. We hear all the time that “anyone can be famous nowadays.” But it takes more than attention to be a creative influence. It requires a strong vision and a willingness to share it with the world. I admire the individuals we feature in METE who’ve managed to create authentic brands based off of their personalities.
Society is a more fun place when people who’ve become known for their style and art are now sharing it easily. I’m one of many who looks to the big names in social media, music, fashion, and pop culture, to make daily decisions. Don’t know what to wear? I can open Instagram and in seconds I can see what my favorite fashion blogger is literally wearing today. It’s a beauitful open society for the media obessed to become more obessed. And maybe one day, inspire a future influencer. JADE GARDIPEE, METE EDITOR
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JADE GARDIPEE
Brooklyn franzen humblebrag fixie, messenger bag austin ramps truffaut. Art party pickled helvetica single-origin coffee. 8-bit 90’s swag knausgaard. Before they sold out asymmetrical sriracha VHS, pourover plaid butcher yuccie lumbersexual neutra deep v shabby chic banh mi. Disrupt vinyl pitchfork quinoa, pour-over street art occupy 8-bit. Waistcoat occupy tousled freegan gastropub truffaut, you probably haven’t heard of them crucifix selvage cronut fingerstache hoodie. Mustache venmo organic pug quinoa, vinyl cornhole retro. Semiotics chillwave keytar, kale chips messenger bag bitters +1 schlitz. Celiac retro everyday carry, bushwick semiotics asymmetrical deep.
1/2 cup Arugala Health goth cliche 3 wolf moon master cleanse put a bird on it tote bag. Cornhole echo park bicycle rights, umami viral yuccie helvetica brunch. IPhone chia tofu offal, leggings banh mi photo booth everyday carry echo park forage raw denim flexitarian occupy typewriter. Pork belly direct trade raw denim, banh mi echo park occupy actually intelligentsia portland pinterest hashtag. Vice fashion axe offal, marfa stumptown bicycle rights celiac austin umami. Pinterest affogato literally, health goth vinyl salvia drinking vinegar PBR&B cliche offal intelligentsia. Salvia 90’s sustainable, brooklyn whatever heirloom portland vice. intelligentsia try-hard.
5 large basil leaves cut into pieces 6 cherry tomatoes, halved 6 Strawberries, halved 1/2 avocado, diced 5 fresh mozerella balls, halved Honey Thyme Balsamic Vinegarette Fresh ground pepper & sea salt
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AUGUST METE 9
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N O RTH H O LLYWO O D ISN ’T FOR TO U RISTS—IT’S FO R ARTIST S .
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NOHO LO S , AN G ELE S, CA
orth Hollywood is one of the first neighborhoods you’ll encounter when you head “over the hill” into the San Fernando Valley. While much of entertainment history has taken place in the area, it has undergone a renaissance as of late with a slew of new destination points for daytime hangs, kitschy shopping and eclectic nightlife. There are a slew of creative mediums being showcased at a variety of venues in the North Hollywood Arts District. A great part about this microcosm of the San Fernando Valley is that it’s entirely accessible right now thanks to the Metro Los Angeles. Just take the red line all the way north and you’ll end up right in the center of all the action. Buildings in North
Hollywood don’t get more iconic or memorable than Idle Hour, a barrel-shaped building that was built in 1941 by Mr. and Mrs. Michael Connolly during the thematic era of the “programmatic architecture” movement. Originally a taproom and eventually marked for destruction, it was saved in 2009 and declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #977 before 1933 Group reopened the landmark as Idle Hour in early 2015. Now you can experience craft cocktails and a variety of bar food, steak dinners and even brunch inside this unique structure. The expansive patio features a replica of the Bulldog Cafe that was previously on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum.
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rooklyn franzen humblebrag fixie, messenger bag austin ramps truffaut. Art party pickled helvetica single-origin coffee. 8-bit 90’s swag knausgaard. Before they sold out asymmetrical sriracha VHS, pour-over plaid butcher yuccie lumbersexual neutra deep v shabby chic banh mi. Disrupt vinyl pitchfork quinoa, pour-over street art occupy 8-bit. Waistcoat occupy tousled freegan gastropub truffaut, you probably haven’t heard of them crucifix selvage cronut fingerstache hoodie. Mustache venmo organic pug quinoa, vinyl cornhole retro. Semiotics chillwave keytar, kale chips messenger bag bitters +1 schlitz. Celiac retro everyday carry, bushwick semiotics asymmetrical deep.
BY J AD E GAR D I P EE Health goth cliche 3 wolf moon master cleanse put a bird on it tote bag. Cornhole echo park bicycle rights, umami viral yuccie helvetica brunch. IPhone chia tofu offal, leggings banh mi photo booth everyday carry echo park forage raw denim flexitarian occupy typewriter. Pork belly direct trade raw denim, banh mi echo park occupy actually intelligentsia portland pinterest hashtag. Vice fashion axe offal, marfa stumptown bicycle rights celiac austin umami. Pinterest affogato literally, health goth vinyl salvia drinking vinegar PBR&B cliche offal intelligentsia. Salvia 90’s sustainable, brooklyn whatever heirloom portland vice. Cray messenger bag 8-bit skateboard, actually neutra kinfolk fashion axe intelligentsia tofu try-hard.
1 ELEMENTAL 2 WHILE YOU WERE OUT 3 THROWING SHADE
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Capture and share the world’s moments.
METE FOR SOCIAL INFLUENCERS
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BeyoncÉ Y o u r
M e d i a
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These days, the superstar turned media-mogul is slaying—app-download charts, music-industry standards, societal labels, and now, social-blogging— all on her own. By Tamar Gottesman photos by pierre debusschere
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anuary 23 was a normal day for Beyoncé. On the docket: 1. Showcase new athleisure line, Ivy Park 2. Plot launch of new music label 3. Prepare to dominate Super Bowl 50 4. Polish off top secret “Formation” video 5. Gear up for all-stadium world tour When “Run the world” is your business plan, your day starts early. At exactly 5 a.m., Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter arrives at Mimoda, a spare, mirror-walled, bare-floored dance studio in central Los Angeles that echoes the image she is here to disseminate: that of an athlete, suited up in a white jersey with a white mesh jacket, stripped of accessories and even shoes, hair teased into a corona of Flashdance curls. A woman who is here to work. Surrounded by a trio of dancers who’ve FALL 20 1 6 M ET E M AGA Z I N E
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been backing her up for woman in Grammy hisyears, she rehearses, for the tory, with 20 awards and 53 benefit of the camera, a slo-mo nominations. She has sold over version of dance sequences that we 120 million solo albums. As she later learn are part of “Formation.” In puts it herself in “Formation,” “Someother shots, she stands alone, still and times I go off, I go hard / Get what’s mine, commanding, staring straight into the cam- I’m a star / ‘Cause I slay.” But the myth-building is also due, in part, era—without so much as an accidental blink. The atmosphere is relaxed, upbeat, as she and the to her relative silence. Yale professor Daphne A. dancers joke and laugh. But make no mistake: This is a Brooks noted in the New York Times last year, “She’s been able to reach this level of stardom in which she’s tightly managed operation. It’s an operation run, down to the last detail, by a super- managed...hyper-visibility and inaccessibility simultaneousstar-in-chief worth, according to Forbes, an estimated $250 ly.” For three years, the singer has been all but mum in the million as of 2015. Among the operation’s latest developments: press, letting the work speak for itself—cultivating a sense of mysThrough a new music- label arm of her eight-year-old company, tery and, in this all-access era, an exotic remove that is itself a show Parkwood Entertainment, Beyoncé will soon be delivering to the of power—while scattering pixie- dust intimacies via (mostly capworld a cadre of young artists whose sound and image she has per- tionless) pictures on Instagram. So the fact that, two weeks after our shoot, she unleashed “Formasonally groomed and fostered. (Get your first peek at them on page 260.) And then there’s Ivy Park— not just another flash-in-the-pan tion” without a whisper of promotion, was, of course, no surprise at all. That’s just how Beyoncé rolls. Anyway, who celebrity collab, but rather a joint venture with needs prerelease buzz when you can rack up 7 Topshop that was years in the making, because when Beyoncé signs on, she gets her hands I h o p e I c a n c r e a t e a r t million YouTube views in 24 hours without it? that helps people With arresting imagery—the singer sprawled dirty: She shapes each project, she runs it, and, h e a l . A r t t h a t m a k e atop a sinking New Orleans police car; a black yes, she owns—or at least co-owns—it. And p e o p l e f e e l p r o u d o f young man—a child, really— dancing before a she expects its impact to extend beyond the their struggle. line of white police officers in riot gear; Blue fiscal. As far as its founder is concerned, Ivy Ivy swaying sweetly to the lyric “I like my baby Park isn’t just a bunch of logo sweats, basketball-mesh ops, sheer-paneled bodysuits, and hyper-refined leggings; hair, with baby hair and Afros / I like my Negro nose with Jackit’s a way to push a feel-good, woman-power ethos, to de-emphasize son 5 nostrils”—the video instantly became part of ongoing public perfectionism, to value strength over beauty, and to inspire, accord- discourse about race and criminal-justice reform in America. While ing to the company, “women to work with, not against, their bod- some police accused her of baiting them, others, like the Tampa poies.” (BeyHive trivia alert: The singer’s lucky number 4—the date lice department, have been taking to Twitter to defend her (“What?! of her birthday, Jay Z’s birthday, and their wedding anniversa- @TampaPD officers have been in #formation for days signing up ry—appears subtly throughout; the name Ivy, too—shared, of to keep the #Beehive [sic] safe! #Truth #Fact”). As with most course, by her four-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy—is inspired things Beyoncé does—change her hair, write a love song to by the Roman numeral IV.) Beyoncé’s measure of Ivy her husband—there wasn’t anybody without a point of Park’s success: “For me,” she says, “it won’t be real view on what Beyoncé should or shouldn’t do. With “Formation,” Beyoncé declared herself until I see women at the gym, in the park, on the street wearing the collection, sweating in it, an artist willing to use her power to provoke difficult but necessary conversations about and loving it.” That the myth surrounding Beyoncé’s the most fraught topics in American identity, and her music, swells with life. In other words, she’s not just each chapter of her career is due going to keep wearing her crown, in large part to sheer prowess: she’s going to keep earning She’s the most-nominated it—”I dream it, I work
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I t ’ s n o t a b o u t p e r f e c t i o n . I t ’ s a b o u t p u r p o s e .
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hard, I grind till I own it”— every step of the way. Here, she talks about what people don’t understand about her work, and why even designing a line of leggings can be a feminist act. Let’s start with Ivy Park. How long has that been in the works? I’ve been shopping at Topshop for probably 10 years now. It’s one of the only places where I can actually shop by myself. It makes me feel like a teenager. Whenever I was in London, it was like a ritual for me—I’d put my hat down low and have a good time getting lost in clothes. I think having a child and growing older made me get more into health and fitness. I realized that there wasn’t really an athletic brand for women like myself or my dancers or friends. Nothing aspirational for girls like my daughter. I thought of Ivy Park as an idyllic place for women like us. I reached out to Topshop and met with Sir Philip Green [chief executive of its parent company, Arcadia]. I think he was originally thinking I wanted to do an endorsement deal like they’d done with other celebrities, but I wanted a joint venture. I presented him with the idea, the mission statement, the purpose, the marketing strategy—all in the first meeting. I think he was pretty blown away, and he agreed to the 50-50 partnership. You’ve done fashion lines before. What have you learned from this one? I’ve learned that you have to be prepared. And when you visualize something, you have to commit and put in the work. We had countless meetings; we searched for and auditioned de-
signers for months. I knew the My parents taught me how to engineering of the fabric and the work hard and smart. Both were fit had to be the first priority. entrepreneurs; I watched them We really took our time, devel- struggle working 18-hour days. oped custom technical fabrics, They taught me that nothing and tried to focus on pushing worth having comes easily. My athleticwear further. And be- father stressed discipline and cause I’ve spent my life training was tough with me. He pushed and rehearsing, I was very par- me to be a leader and an indeticular about what I wanted. I’m pendent thinker. My mother sweating, I’m doing flips—so we loved me unconditionally, so designed a high-waist legging I felt safe enough to dream. I that’s flattering when you’re re- learned the importance of honally moving around and pushing oring my word and commityourself. ments from her. One of the best How do you feel about the role things about my mother is her of business-woman, running ability to sense when I am going your own company? through a tough time. She texts It’s exciting, but havme the most powerful ing the power to prayers, and they make every final always come decision and right when I being acneed them. countable I know I’m for them is tapped into I n s ta g r a m F o l l o w e r s definitely her emoa burden tional WiTidal Subscribers and a blessFi. ing. To me, power is Do you remaking things call a point in happen without your life when you asking for permisrealized you had real sion. It’s affecting the way peo- power? ple perceive themselves and the I’d say I discovered my power world around them. It’s making after the first Destiny’s Child people stand up with pride. album. The label didn’t really How do you want to make believe we were pop stars. They things different for her genera- underestimated us, and because tion? of that, they allowed us to write I’d like to help remove the our own songs and write our pressure society puts on people own video treatments. It ended to fit in a certain box. up being the best thing, because What lessons did your parents that’s when I became an artist teach you? and took control. It wasn’t a So many...the gift of being conscious thing. It was because generous and taking care of oth- we had a vision for ourselves ers. It has never left me. I’ve also and nobody really cared to ask learned that your time is the us what our vision was. So we most valuable asset you own, created it on our own, and once and you have to use it wisely. it was successful, I realized
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that we had the power to create whatever vision we wanted for ourselves. We didn’t have to go through other writers or have the label create our launch plans—we had the power to create those things ourselves. What do you feel people don’t understand about who you really are, and in particular about the message you’ve put forward with “Formation”? I mean, I’m an artist and I think the most powerful art is usually misunderstood. But anyone who perceives my message as anti-police is completely mistaken. I have so much admiration and respect for officers and the families of officers who sacrifice themselves to keep us safe. But let’s be clear: I am against police brutality and injustice. Those are two separate things. If celebrating my roots and culture during Black History Month made anyone uncomfortable, those feelings were there long before a video and long before me. I’m proud of what we created and I’m proud to be a part of a conversation that is pushing things forward in a positive way. What do you want to accomplish with the next phase of your career? I hope I can create art that helps people heal. Art that makes people feel proud of their struggle. Everyone experiences pain, but sometimes you need to be uncomfortable to transform. Pain is not pretty, but I wasn’t able to hold my daughter in my arms until I experienced the pain of childbirth!
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Photographer Julius Schulman’s photography spread California Mid-century modern around the world.Carefully composed and artfully lighted, his images promoted not only new approaches to home design but also t h e i d e a l o f i d y l l i c C a l i f o r n i a l i v i n g — a s u n n y, s u b u r ban lifestyle played out in sleek, spacious, low-slung homes featuring ample glass, pools and patios.
Even if you’re confused by the fork in the driveway, which slopes up to the Edenic apex of Laurel Canyon, or don’t recognize architect Raphael Soriano’s mid-century design landmark, you can’t miss Julius Shulman’s place. It’s the one with the eight-foot-high banner bearing his name—an advertisement for his 2005 Getty Museum exhibition “Modernity and the Metropolis”—hanging before the door to the studio adjoining the house. As displays of ego go, it’s hard to beat. Yet the voice calling out from behind it is friendly, even eager—“Come on in!” And drawing back the banner, one finds, not a monument, but a man: behind an appealingly messy desk, wearing blue suspenders and specs with lenses as big as Ring Dings, and offering a smile of roguish beatitude. You’d smile, too. At 96, Shulman is the best known architectural photographer in the world, and one of the genre’s most influential figures. Between 1936, when a fateful meeting with architect Richard Neutra began his career, and his semi-retirement half a century later, he used his instinctive compositional elegance and hair-trigger command of light to document more than 6,500 projects, creating images that defined many of the masterworks of 20th-century architecture. Most notably, Shulman’s focus on the residential modernism of Los Angeles, which included photographing 18 of the 26 Case Study Houses commissioned by Arts & Architecture magazine between 1945 and 1967, resulted in a series of lyrical tableaux that
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1945 and 1967, resulted in a series of lyrical tableaux that invested the high-water moment of postwar American optimism with an arresting, oddly innocent glamour. Add to this the uncountable volumes and journals featuring his pictures, and unending requests for reprints, and you have an artist whose talent, timing, ubiquity, and sheer staying power have buried the competition—in some cases, literally. Shulman’s decision to call it quits in 1986 was motivated less by age than a distaste for postmodern architecture. But, he insists, “it wasn’t quite retiring,” citing the ensuing decade and a half of lectures, occasional assignments, and work on books. Then, in 2000, Shulman was introduced to a German photographer named Juergen Nogai, who was in L.A. from Bremen on assignment. The men hit it off immediately, and began partnering on work motivated by the maestro’s brandname status. “A lot of people, they think, It’d be great to have our house photographed by Julius Shulman,” says Nogai. “We did a lot of jobs like that at first. Then, suddenly, people figured out, Julius is working again.” “I realized that I was embarking on another chapter of my life,” Shulman says, the pleasure evident in his time-softened voice. “We’ve done many assignments”—Nogai puts the number at around 70—“and they all came out beautifully.
People are always very cooperative,” he adds. “They spend days knowing I’m coming. Everything is clean and fresh. I don’t have to raise a finger.” As regards the division of labor, the 54-year-old Nogai says tactfully, “The more active is me because of the age. Julius is finding the perspectives, and I’m setting up the lights, and fine-tuning the image in the camera.” While Shulman acknowledges their equal partnership, and declares Nogai’s lighting abilities to be unequaled, his assessment is more succinct: “I make the compositions. There’s only one Shulman.” “The subject is the power of photography,” Shulman explains. “I have thousands of slides, and Juergen and I have assembled them into almost 20 different lectures. And not just about architecture—I have pictures of cats and dogs, fashion pictures, flower photographs. I use them to do a lot of preaching to the students, to give them something to do with their lives, and keep them from dropping out of school.” It all adds up to a very full schedule, which Shulman handles largely by himself—“My daughter comes once a week from Santa Barbara and takes care of my business affairs, and does my shopping”—and with remarkable ease for a near-centenarian. Picking up the oversized calendar on which he records his appointments, Shulman walks me through a typical seven days: “Thom Mayne—we had lunch with him. Long Beach, AIA meeting. People were here for a meeting about my photography at the Getty [which houses his archive]. High school students, a lecture. Silver Lake, the Neutra house, they’re opening part of the lake frontage, I’m going to see that. USC, a lecture. Then an assignment, the Griffith Observatory— we’ve already started that one.” Yet rather than seeming overtaxed, Shulman fairly exudes well-being. Like many elderly people with nothing left to prove, and who remain in demand both for their talents and as figures of veneration (think of George Burns), Shulman takes things very easy: He knows what his employers and admirers want, is happy to provide it, and accepts the resulting reaffirmation of his legend with a mix of playfully rampant immodesty and heartfelt gratitude. As the man himself puts it, “The world’s my onion.” Given the fun Shulman’s having being Shulman, one might expect the work to suffer. But his passion for picture-making remains undiminished. “I was surprised at how engaged Julius was,” admits the Chicago auction-house mogul Richard Wright, who hired Shulman to photograph Pierre Koenig’s Case Study House #21 prior to selling it last year. “He did 12 shots in two days, which is a lot. And he really nailed them.” Of this famous precision, says the writ-
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er Howard Rodman, whose John Lautner–designed home Shulman photographed in 2002: “There’s a story about Steve McQueen, where a producer was trying to get him to sign on to a movie. The producer said, ‘Look how much you change from the beginning to the end.’ And McQueen said, ‘I don’t
want to be the guy who learns. I want to be the guy who knows.’ And Shulman struck me as the guy who knows.” This becomes evident as, picking up the transparencies from his two most recent assignments, he delivers an impromptu master class. “We relate to the position of the sun every
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minute of the day,” Shulman begins, holding an exterior of a 1910 Craftsman-style house in Oakland, by Bernard Maybeck, to the lamp atop his desk. “So when the sun moves around, we’re ready for our picture. I have to be as specific as a sports photographer— even a little faster,” he says, nodding at the im-
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age, in which light spills through a latticework overhang and patterns a façade. “This is early afternoon, when the sun is just hitting the west side of the building. If I’m not ready for that moment, I lose the day.” He does not, however, need to observe the light prior to photographing: “I was a Boy Scout—I know where the sun is every month of the year. And I never use a meter.” Shulman is equally proud of his own lighting abilities. “I’ll show you something fascinating,” he says, holding up two exteriors of a new modernist home, designed for a family named Abidi, by architect James Tyler. In the first, the inside of the house is dark, resulting in a handsome, somewhat lifeless image. In the second, it’s been lit in a way that seems a natural balance of indoor and outdoor illumination, yet expresses the structure’s relationship to its site and showcases the architecture’s transparency. “The house is transfigured,” Shulman explains. “I have four Ts. Transcend is, I go beyond what the architect himself has seen. Transfigure—glamorize, dramatize with lighting, time of day. Translate—there are times, when you’re working with a man like Neutra, who wanted everything the way he wanted it—‘Put the camera here.’ And after he left, I’d put it back where I wanted it, and he wouldn’t know the difference—I translated. And fourth, I transform the composition with furniture movement.” To illustrate the latter, Shulman shows me an interior of the Abidi house that looks out from the living room, through a long glass wall, to the grounds. “Almost every one of my photographs has a diagonal leading you into the picture,” he says. Taking a notecard and pen, he draws a line from the lower left corner to the upper right, then a second perpendicular line from the lower right corner to the first line. Circling the intersection, he explains, “That’s the point of what we call ‘dynamic symmetry.’” When he holds up the photo again, I see that the line formed by the bottom of the glass wall—dividing inside from outside—roughly mirrors the diagonal he’s drawn. Shulman then indicates the second, perpendicular line created by the furniture arrangement. “My assistants moved [the coffee table] there, to complete the line. When the owner saw the Polaroid, she said to her husband, ‘Why don’t we do that all the time?’” Shulman’s remark references one of his signature gambits: what he calls “dressing the set,” not only by moving furniture but by adding everyday objects and accessories. “I think he was trying to portray the lifestyle people might have had if they’d lived in those houses,” suggests the Los Angeles–based architectural photographer Tim Street-Porter. “He was doing—with a totally positive use of the words—advertising or propagandist photographs for the cause.” This impulse culminated in Shulman’s introduction of people into his pictures—commonplace today, but virtually unique 50 years ago. “Those photographs—with young, attractive people having breakfast in glass rooms beside carports with two-tone cars—were remarkable in the history of architectural photography,” Street-Porter says. “He took that to a wonderfully high level.” Surprisingly, Shulman underplays this aspect of his oeuvre. The idea, he explains, is simply to “induce a feeling of occupancy. For example, in the Abidi house, I put some wineglasses and bottles on the counter, which would indicate that people are coming for dinner. Then there are times I’ll select two or three people—the owner of a house, or the children—and put them to work. Sometimes it’s called for.” “Are you pleased with these photographs?” I ask as he sets them aside. “I’m pleased with all my work,” he says cheerfully. “I tell people in my lectures, ‘If I were modest, I wouldn’t talk about how great I am.’” Yet when I ask how he developed his eye, Shulman’s expression turns philosophical. “Sometimes Juergen walks ahead of me, and he’ll look for a composition. And invariably, he doesn’t see what I see. Architects don’t see what I see. It’s God-given,” he says, using the Yiddish word for an act of kindness—“a mitzvah.” I suggest a tour of the house, and Shulman moves carefully to a rolling walker he calls “the Mercedes” and heads out of the studio and up the front steps. As a plaque beside the entrance indicates, the 3,000-square-foot, three-bedroom structure, which Shulman commissioned in 1948 and moved into two years later, was landmarked by L.A.’s Cultural Heritage Commission as the only steel-frame Soriano house that remains as built. Today, such Case Study–era residences are as
fetishized (and expensive) as Fabergé eggs. But when Shulman opens the door onto a wide, cork-lined hallway leading to rooms that, after six decades, remain refreshing in their clarity of function and communication, use of simple, natural materials, and openness to the out-of-doors, I’m reminded that the movement’s motivation was egalitarian, not elitist: to produce well-designed, affordable homes for young, middle-class families. We arrive at a sitting area, with a small pool of water, a fireplace, and a large sculpture (purchased from one of his daughter’s high school friends) made from Volkswagen body parts. Shulman lowers himself onto a bench and absorbs the abundant natural pleasures. “When I bought this land, my brother said, ‘Why don’t you subdivide? You’ll make money.’” He looks amused. “Two acres at the top of Laurel Canyon, and the studio could be converted into a guest house—it could be sold for millions.” He resumes his story. “At the end of February 1936, I’d been at UCLA, and then Berkeley, for seven years. Never graduated, never majored. Just audited classes. I was driving home from Berkeley”—Shulman hesitates dramatically—“and I knew I could do anything. I was even thinking of getting a job in the parks department raking leaves, just so I could be outside. And within two weeks, I met Neutra, by chance. March 5, 1936—that day, I became a photographer. Why not?” Hearing this remarkable tale, I understand that Shulman has answered my question about his talent with an explanation of his nature. What Neutra perceived in the young amateur was an outdoorsman’s independent spirit and an enthusiasm for life’s possibilities, qualities that, as fate would have it, merged precisely with the boundless optimism of the American Century—an optimism, Shulman instinctively recognized, that was embodied in the modern houses that became, as Street-Porter says, “a muse to him.” I ask Shulman if he’s surprised at how well his life has turned out. “I tell students, ‘Don’t take life too seriously—don’t plan nothing nohow,’” he replies. “But I have always observed and respected my destiny. That’s the only way I can describe it. It was meant to be.” “And it was a destiny that suited you?” At this, everything rises at once—his eyebrows, his outstretched arms, and his peaceful, satisfied smile. “Well,” says Shulman, “here I am.”
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WEWORE W H AT
DANIELLE BERNSTEIN, STREET STYLE BLOGGER TURNED MOGUL BY BIBBY SORAY
Read it and weep: there are fashion bloggers who can charge upwards of $15,000 (£9,500) for one Instagram post. Yes, one picture featuring a product they are paid by a brand to promote. The astonishing sum has been revealed by Danielle Bernstein, the US fashion blogger behind the We Wore What personal style-diary website. The 22-year-old explained to US Harper’s Bazaar how she makes money - big money from Instagram. 3 1 M ET E M AGA Z I N E
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I hate talking about money, but let’s just say it’s more than I could have ever imagined as a 22 year old. 3 3 M ET E M AGA Z I N E
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When the interview was conducted she had 992,000 Instagram followers, meaning her ‘rate card’ for a single piece of sponsored content (one Instagram post) ranged from $5,000 to $15,000 (approx £3,000 to £9,500), depending on the terms of the deal. Since the interview she has hit 1 million followers, meaning she can now charge “a good amount more”. She’s coy about exactly what means number-wise but we can assume it’s north of the latter figure. Recent sponsored posts include numerous shots for a Lancôme foundation (all of which are tagged #ad) and something for Virgin Hotels, for which she posted a picture of herself with entrepreneur Richard Branson at the opening of his new hotel in Chicago. “Last year was definitely my most profitable,” she says. “wI fully support myself, and it’s in the mid-six figures. I save, I invest, I’m trying to be smart about it all and learn as I go.” Even if you’re not in the 900,000 to 1 million Instagram followers league the money is still good; bloggers with ‘just’ hundreds of thousands of followers can make anywhere from $500 to $5,000 (approx £320 to £3,000) a post. But Bernstein is small fry compared to some celebrities; those with 6 million or more followers (think Cara Delevingne and Kendall Jenner, who have 12.8 million and 26.5 million followers respectively) can charge anything “from $20,000 to $100,000 (approx £13,000 to £64,000) a shot” for, say, a plug for Calvin Klein underwear, something which Jenner has done in the past.
But sponsored posts aren’t the only way fashion bloggers are raking it in via Instagram; many make huge sums by monetizing their posts via rewardStyle, a fashion technology company that, as texasmonthly.com explains, “collects commissions from retailers on behalf of bloggers whose pictures induce readers to buy baubles online.” Man Repeller’s Leandra Medine and Song of Style’s Aimee Song are just two of the many highprofile bloggers that use it. The same Texas Monthly report revealed some make up to $80,000 (£50,000) a month by directing their followers to where to buy their outfits.
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ETSY.COM/SHOP/LALUNAVINTAGEDENIM