Saul Leiter was born in 1923, the
son of a Jewish Rabbi. Moving to New York in the 1940s he regarded himself more
as a painter than a photographer as he immersed himself in the abstract
impressionist culture that was in vogue at the time. However, his paintings
(some of which are on display in the exhibition) never gained him any
recognition and it was as a photographer, both at work (he was employed by “Elle”
and other magazines as a fashion photographer) and at play in the streets of
the city, that he produced his best work.
Leiter was one of the first
photographers to use colour in his work. He had already been shooting very
effectively in this medium for over 20 years when the colour output of photographers
such as William Eggleston started to “make waves” in the 1970s, but it was only
later in life (he died in 2013) that he received recognition for his pioneering
role. The influence of abstract impressionism also played a key role in shaping
his unique style, which relied on abstract shapes, shadows, reflections in
glass and textures to produce his abstract and figurative street scenes.
I really enjoyed visiting this
exhibition. Not only was Leiter ahead of his time in realising how colour could
add to the atmosphere of the street scenes that he was depicting, but he was
not afraid to break the compositional rules and conventions of the period.
Although he was a pioneer of colour photography he also worked in monochrome,
producing some stunning results in this “conventional” medium. A couple of bold
examples of his work (Images 1 and 2)
illustrate these points.
Image 1: "Red Umbrella", Saul Leiter, c. 1957
Image 2: "Canopy", Saul Leiter, c. 1958
In image 1 (“Red Umbrella”) the umbrella hardly penetrates the image of a mid-winter Snowy New York
street at all and we are given few clues to its wearer, yet this tiny splash of
vivid colour, aided by the curve of grey slush on the road that leads the eye
towards it, results in a powerful, imaginative and very “modern” image. In image
2 (“Canopy”) the canopy covers around 80% of the frame, yet somehow it
works by drawing the eye to the roughly “letterbox” shaped street scene below it, set on yet
another snowy New York day. I’m particularly attracted to the cut in the canopy
on the left hand side, which leaves a gap that resembles a church spire in the
background. The exhibition is full of further examples of Leiter’s fluid yet
radical style. Perhaps this radicalism was not accepted at the time:
nowadays his style can be appreciated far more.
Leiter’s use of colour was, in
contrast to the work of the photographers who followed him in the 1970s, quite
subtle. He would often combine his muted colours with the effects of water both
in the form of moisture on glass and in the atmosphere, dimming, blurring and/or
abstracting the shapes of passers-by in what appears to have been an eternal
New York winter (see, for example, Image
3, “Snow”).
Image 3: "Snow", Saul Leiter, c. 1960
A major feature of Leiter’s
street scenes, and one that was of particular relevance to me, was his use of
glass to incorporate shadows and reflections into his photographs. Reflections were used to juxtapose two separate images to great effect, exemplified by the photograph of a man using a
telephone, whilst a New York bus passes by (“Phone Call”, Image 4). Alternatively he would use glass to distort and abstract the image, giving us just a fleeting impression, such as might be
recalled as a memory after the event (see “Shopping”, Image 5).
Image 4: "Phone Call", Saul Leiter, c. 1957
Image 5: "Shopping", Saul Leiter, c. 1953
The exhibition also includes many
of Leiter’s fashion photographs, which reveal his fertile imagination and his
eye for a good shot. However, it is the New York street scenes that really
stand out for me.
Leiter’s street scenes
generate an atmosphere and a wonderful sense of place and time that places him,
in my opinion, alongside the more widely known “greats” such as Klein and
Cartier-Bresson. His is also a classic example of how to develop a distinctive
style, which is well suited to his subject matter but can be applied in other
areas. In particular, his use of glass and reflections in glass to juxtapose
subject matter, create abstraction, produce or accentuate atmosphere and (in
particular) to produce a “double exposure” effect is of relevance both to my
current project work and to my work in general.
