The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts (FMoPA), now showing an exhibit of Ezra Stoller photographs explains why he so defined Modern architecture and why architects sought to be “Stollerized.”
In the 1960s and 1970s a Stoller photo had the power to vault an architect’s career into international fame. West Florida was fortunate to have both architect Paul Rudolph and photographer Ezra Stoller working together in Sarasota. They were friends, and Rudolph trusted him to record much of his residential architecture. Christopher Domin’s 2005 book captures Rudolph’s work through Stoller’s eye: Paul Rudolph: The Florida Houses, by Christopher Domin. He used a large format camera and shaped light to communicate the drama of modern architecture. Among his most famous images are Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Seagram building by Mies van der Rohe, and Eero Saarien’s T.W.A. terminal. He documented at least 3,500 projects. Click on the Youtube link above to see what it meant to be “Stollerized.”
To learn more about him and his work check out Esto, the photographic agency he founded. His daughter, Erica Stoller, is now the director. She co-authored a book about her famous father, Ezra Stoller, Photographer (Yale University Press).
Cite: The Magic of Ezra Stoller, Paul Makovsky, “Metropolis,” Nov. 12, 2014.