Tag: Saul Leiter

Review: Saul Leiter In My Room, Edited by Margit Erb and Robert Benton

Book review

Saul Leiter In My Room
Saul Leiter In My Room, Edited by Margit Erb and Robert Benton. The Ilford HP5 film to the right just to give a sense of size of the book.

You probably know Saul Leiter as the street photographer, one of the pioneers in using colors in street photography and considered part of the New York school of photography. And you may also know that he also was a painter, and started out as a painter before venturing into photography. Some of his work is painted nudes, where he combines photography and painting. And on top of all this, he also worked for many years as a fashion photographer – Harper’s Bazaar, just to mention one.

This book is not about all the above. Rather, it is filled with black and white  pictures, almost entirely shot in Saul Leiter’s apartment in Manhattan. I think it is anyone’s guess why Saul shot in black and white for these images, but it enabled him to develop the films himself in the studio. And I am not so sure he ever wanted these images to amount to much, although he during the 1970’s planned to make a book of all these images, but it never amounted to anything. He was, as always, in no particular hurry.

Leiter did not any type of explanation of analysis of his work. I cannot help it, but as a photographer I immediately notice his use of natural light, patterns in shadows, framing (and yet framing!), blocking the view partly by various objects, the shallow depth of field, use of mirrors and reflections – the list goes on and on and on. He is a true master of photography – period. But where the magic surfaces for me is that no matter how much I try to analyze the images down to individual components and effects used, I find myself thinking that “this is not the whole story”. There is more to it. There is a bit of mystery, intimacy, vulnerability and uniqueness that simply transcends all analysis.

So I highly recommend this book for any photographer. Maybe his book “Early colors” is a better place to start if you are new to Saul Leiter. Or the book All about Saul Leiter.  But if you find yourself wanting to know Saul Leiter for more than his street photography, or just want to see the products of a master of photography, this book should be on your coffee table anytime soon.

Related reading

Photo work: Forty photographers on process and practice, edited by Sasha Wolf

Understanding a photograph by John Berger

Review: All about Saul Leiter, collected by Margit Erb

Book review

All about Saul Leiter, collected by Margit Erb
All about Saul Leiter, texts by Margit Erb, Pauline Vermare and Motoyuki Shibata. The Ilford HP5 film just to give some sense of the size of the book.

Margit Erb apparently is the founder and director of the Saul Leiter Foundation, dedicated to preserving his art and legacy. She worked with Saul Leiter since 1996 and is instrumental in the production of a number of books about him. In this book consists of 232 images (paintings & images) and combined them with wonderful quotes from Saul Leiter. The book was originally created in Japan to accompany the exhibition Photographer Saul Leiter: A Retrospective.

The book is all about these 232 images and quotes. Only at the end of the book there are 3 short chapters written by Margit Erb, Pauline Vermare and Motoyuki Shibata. Other than that, it is only images and quotes. Just like I like a book about photography!

I simply looked at the world, not prepared for anything.

Saul Leiter.

And what images! Especially the street photography is where he shines as a ground breaking master of photography! I know he is famous for using colors where others use black and white, but I think there is so much more to his images than just color and the occasional sprinkle of red color that so many talk about: If you look at his framing techniques and how he used objects to block the viewers angle partly, plus unconventional positioning of his subject in the frame, then you start to realize how ground breaking his work actually was. And if you flip over to Instagram, there are so many photographers trying to do the same and (IMHO) not getting even remotely close.

It is not where it is or what it is that matters but how you see it.

Saul Leiter.

Saul Leiter did not like all the analysis of his work. In a video I watched on YouTube he was asked about how he saw the relationship between his paint work and his photography work and how if he believed his paint work had influenced his photography work. He stopped the academic questions and said “I am very suspicious of the analysis of art work…the explanation for certain things are not the real reasons for certain things.”. In other words, the more you analyze his work from an academic point of view, the less you enjoy the images.

In the same interview, he often says when asked why he did things a certain way or why this or why that, hen answered “because I liked them”, i.e. he was not driven by a certain agenda, it was much more simple than that. Similarly, when asked why he preferred the streets for his photography, the answer was “Things are going on! The street is like a ballet, you never know what is going to happen.”; much more preferred than a studio.

I have a great respect for people who do nothing.

Saul Leiter.

So to make a long story short: I love the images of this book! The book covers his early street photographs, images for advertising, nudes and paintings, but the street photography images are my favorite. I am sure that if you like street photography, then you will love this book and all the wonderful images and quotes.

Related reading

Understanding a photograph by John Berger

Review: Saul Leiter In My Room, Edited by Margit Erb and Robert Benton