Saul Leiter

First of all I have to say I was shocked and amazed. Yvette actually recommending something that I really, and I mean REALLY enjoyed. The documentary about Saul Leiter on BBC 4 recently was absolutely brilliant. I loved the guys work, so thank you Yvette for that. 

An amazing man with such a catalogue of wonderful images and memories. A life full of working to what he wanted to produce and not anyone else. Sometimes sad, as he is an old man now and at some points the film tugged at your heart strings. I would highly recommend watching this film, even if you have no interest in photography purely because it was well made and a film about an interesting man.

In the meantime I thought I would share a few of his images on here and my thoughts on them.

Snow, 1960. Saul Leiter  Available from: http//www.jacksonfineart.com/Saul-Leiter

In the documentary, Leiter stated that he was far more interested in shooting rain on a window than a famous person. This shot illustrates that perfectly as do many of his images. Not only did Leiter enjoy shooting through misted up or rain covered windows, he also used window reflections to great effect. Focusing on the condensation rather than the subject has given a very soft feel to the image. Almost the equivalent of the practice of smearing Vaseline on a lens to give a soft focusing effect. The flat lighting and snowy scene contrast sharply with the van in the back ground and almost looks like it is colour popped.  Over all a wonderful image. 

Red Umbrella, 1957. Saul Leiter. Available  from: http//:www.jacksonfineart.com/Saul-Leiter

In this image Leiter looks to have almost missed the shot. However, it works. Whether this was one of those accidental shots that’s works or done on purpose is unknown. Again he uses the neutral snowy scene to contrast sharply with the colour in the subject. Great use of leading lines too. Leiter’s special look and perspective on colour makes this shot work.

T, 1950. Saul Leiter. Available from: http//:www.jacksonfineart.com/Saul-Leiter

Another shot from Leiter that is through a fogged up window. During his interview on the documentary he said that the benefit of not being a recognised photographer was that you did not get asked stupid questions such as “why did you take this image” or “who are your influences”. Leiter’s response is the same as mine, Why? Because I liked it. There is no deep hidden meaning to his images, he just liked what he saw and wanted to record it. If there is any meaning at all to his images then it is purely his appreciation of colour and his view of it. There is no reason behind his technique of shooting through fogged windows, other than he likes the effect. As for who influences Leiter? Well, regardless of his un-willingness to answer the question, I would have to say he is clearly influenced by Cartier-Bresson and Eugene Smith in both style and subject. He clearly has his own touch to add to those influences, especially in his use of colour but nevertheless, the influences are there.

From the above selection of images you can see his use of reflections too. Even in his days of shooting fashion for Vogue and Harpers Bazaar he still kept to his own style of shooting reflections and through misted windows etc.