SAUL LEITER - From painter to photographer, a visual journey
Among the artists I selected for further study in the field of street photography, I made the choice of Saul Leiter easily.
I appreciate a visual aesthetic which is striking at first sight: both the composition, the colors, and this blurred effect originating from reflections and humid fog on the glass are something unique in the street photography genre and recall psychogeographic sensations.
Analyzing Leiter's artistic career and work, we cannot clearly define where the painter ends and where the photographer begins,
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| Leiter Saul, from https://www.grandi-fotografi.com/single-post/2016-1-7-saul-leiter-un-genio-della-street-photography (accessed on 1/11/2023) |
Leiter's cultural education originates from painting and is clearly visible.
Is Saul Leiter a painter who devoted himself to photography or a photographer who abandoned painting?
In any case, objectively, his visual poetics, his aesthetic composition and the final result have benefited from this cultural and artistic cross-feeding.
Furthermore, if psychogeography is made of emotions, resonances and impressions, the style and content expressed by Leiter recall psychogeographic principles: some images originate from the reality of photographic shooting and, through the skilful use of blurring and color composition, become an abstract and apparently aesthetic work, made itself by impression.
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| Leiter Saul, from https://www.grandi-fotografi.com/single-post/2016-1-7-saul-leiter-un-genio-della-street-photography (accessed on 1/11/2023) |
Leiter's career spanned over five decades. Still, he was only recognized late for his significant contributions to photography.
Born in 1923 in Pittsburgh, Leiter moved to New York City in the 1940s.
There he began to photograph in black and white and was influenced by artists such as Cartier Bresson, André Kertész and Lisette Model.
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| Leiter Saul, from https://www.grandi-fotografi.com/single-post/2016-1-7-saul-leiter-un-genio-della-street-photography (accessed on 1/11/2023) |
Leiter was a follower of Louis Faurer, one of the most successful visual chroniclers of the metropolis of those years. In Faurer's images we notice shooting and composition techniques that we will then also find in Leiter's color photography.
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| Faurer, Luis, The ferry to Staten Island, New York, 1946 https://www.internazionale.it/foto/2016/11/22/faurer-new-york-foto (accessed on 1/11/2023) |
The 1950s were contrasting years for New York photography because it was not considered a real art, and this perception was amplified by the use of photography in fashion.
However, thanks to a temporary experience in fashion photography, Leiter approached color. This new photographic choice and his pictorial culture allowed him to develop a unique and innovative style that made him a key figure in color photography.
His distinctive style is characterized by sophisticated and poetic images, often captured through reflections, fogged windows and plays of light and shadow.
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| from https://www.howardgreenberg.com/artists/saul-leiter (accessed 01/11/2023) |
“I must admit that I am not a member of the school of ugliness. I have great respect for certain notions of beauty, even if, for some, they are now old-fashioned ideas. Some photographers think they are dealing with a serious topic by portraying people's sadness. I don't think unhappiness is deeper than happiness."
(Saul Leiter, from an interview)
https://www.howardgreenberg.com/artists/saul-leiter (accessed 01/11/2023)
One of his defining characteristics is his use of blur and shallow depth of field, which gives his photographs an ethereal, dreamlike tone. Leiter was one of the pioneers in color photography when most of his contemporaries still preferred black-and-white photography.
His images often recall painting, with great attention to color, composition and form.
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| from https://www.howardgreenberg.com/artists/saul-leiter (accessed 01/11/2023) |
Leiter is particularly known for his images of urban life in New York City. His photographs often portray the city intimately and personally, capturing moments of everyday life and transforming them into art. His shots are characterized by a refined attention to detail and an ability to capture beauty in seemingly banal situations.
Another peculiarity of Saul Leiter's images concerns the shooting technique: Leiter is one of the few street photographers who does not disdain the use of a telephoto lens (e.g. 150 mm) in a practice which, almost always relies on short focal lengths like 28, 35, 50mm.
As stated by Leiter, this equipment allowed him to capture details and get closer to the subject without interfering with scenes of ordinary daily life.
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| Leiter Saul, from https://www.grandi-fotografi.com/single-post/2016-1-7-saul-leiter-un-genio-della-street-photography (accessed on 1/11/2023) |
One of his most famous series is "Early Color", which includes photographs taken in the 1940s and 1950s. This series represents a precious testimony to the city life of that period, with Leiter's distinctive eye for color and composition.
Saul Leiter was a master at elevating the ordinary to the sublime through his unique vision and artistic approach to photography. His influence is evident in many contemporary photographers, and his work continues to be studied and appreciated for its originality and timeless beauty.
He can be defined as a street photographer, even if his work goes beyond the traditional definition of the genre.
While many of his images depict urban life and people on the streets of New York City, his distinctive style and attention to composition and color set him apart from many other street photographers.
With his focus on urban life, streets and city environments, Saul Leiter could be interpreted in part as a photographer exploring psychogeographical elements. His images, often imbued with atmosphere and mood, can convey the emotional complexity of people in relation to their surroundings.
This peculiarity, combined with a strong emotional perception of the environment that surrounds him, unconsciously brings him closer to artists who follow the psychogeographic drift.
However, in his work, there are no traces of political involvement and even less is there an implicit criticism of urban development, but rather an immersion and a representation from within the urban pressure with an emotional involvement that transmits love for beauty and rejection of the ugly.
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| Leiter Saul, from https://www.grandi-fotografi.com/single-post/2016-1-7-saul-leiter-un-genio-della-street-photography (accessed on 1/11/2023) |
Leiter's work goes beyond this interpretation and embraces a deep consideration for aesthetics, color and composition.
He was more than just an observer of street life; he was a visual poet who transformed everyday situations into works of art. His ability to use light, reflection and shallow depth of field added a surreal dimension to his photographs.
While Leiter can be placed in the context of street photography, his artistic signature makes him unique and difficult to completely pin down to a single category.
His fusion of street photography elements with a more abstract and personal aesthetic makes him a point of reference in the evolution of this artistic genre.
