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SELWYN PULLAN
Frederic Wood Theatre, UBC Campus, 1963
gelatin silver print (2009)
image: 40.6 cm x 50.8 cm
image courtesy the artist
ESTIMATE: $1,000-1,500
Based in North Vancouver since the early 1950s, Selwyn Pullan has operated as a commercial photographer with a focus on architecture. In a career spanning over fifty years, he played a critical role in advancing West Coast modern architecture, documenting residences and institutional projects for British Columbia’s leading architects during a highly innovative period in the three decades following W.W. II.
Pullan studied photography at the Los Angeles Art Centre (now the Art Center College of Design), graduating in 1950. Architectural photography, then a relatively new profession, had emerged in parallel to modernism and the advances in North American architecture. Pullan’s photographs promoted the new style to a populace eager to embrace a modern way of living. His images were frequently included in photo essays in major design and architectural periodicals such as Western Homes and Living, Canadian Homes and Canadian Interiors. Sought out for his inventive compositions and ability to contextualize new buildings, Pullan documented the work of architects such as Ron Thom, Fred Hollingsworth, Arthur Erickson and Barry Downs, among numerous others. In the last year he has had solo exhibitions at the West Vancouver Museum and Charles Scott Gallery.
This photograph of a key modernist Vancouver building was designed by Thompson, Berwick and Pratt Architects, Roy Jessiman Partner-in-Charge, Barry Downs Designer and built in 1963. It is typical of Pullan’s eye for the impact of light on the sculptural presence of buildings..
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