The exception goes to those photographers that had some historical importance in the photography World, those that influence(d) me, those that I believe can move others like they moved me, humanitarian photographers, and that normally live in the "shadow" of the same old Features and references.
This one is not the case, because I'm talking about Saul Leiter.
He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his father was a well known Talmud scholar and Saul studied to become a Rabbi. At age 23, he left theology school and moved to New York City to become an artist. He had developed an early interest in painting, like so many photographers. His mother gave him his first camera, a Detrola camera, when he was 12 years old.
He was soon taking black and white pictures with a 35 mm Leica, which he acquired by exchanging a few Eugene Smith (exceptional photographer from Life magazine, among others) prints for it. By 1948 he began to experiment in color.
He became better-known as a successful fashion photographer in the 1950s and 60s. Meanwhile Leiter continued to stroll the streets wherever he was, mostly New York and Paris, making photographs for his own pleasure. He printed some of his black-and-white street photos, but kept most of his color slides tucked away in boxes. It was only in the 1990s that he began to look back at that remarkable color work and start to make prints.
It takes a gifted person to be able to see elements such as color, shape, and composition all come together for that one perfect moment. As a photographer, especially a street photographer, you have to be able to anticipate the elements in your head, watch them come together in front of you, then take action. Saul Leiter did.
Using a simple 35mm camera and Kodachrome film, sometimes expired just to see what the effect would be, Leiter created images that are almost paintings. He used telephoto lens a lot, was very fond of it, as of the normal 50 mm lens. But one point he had a 150 mm lens and had plenty of use. Carries around a Panasonic LX5.
Saul Leiter's CameraHe was a pioneer of abstract street photography, a true Edge photographer.
Have a great Weekend. Don't forget your camera.
