Synopsis
In his studio, at home in the Lower East Side, Saul Leiter talks to director Tomas Leach about his family history, his first camera, his beginnings in fashion, and what drives him. A master of colour, he begins taking slides when everyone else is focused on monochrome. His painter's eye leads him towards photographic abstraction, an eye that conveyed an incomparable sense of colour and composition.
What you will learn in this film…
A master of colour photography • His contribution to the history of art • His first camera • The photographer looking for photographs in the street • His work environment • Editing sessions with his collaborator Margit Erb • A selection of archives • His life lessons • His family history • Key meetings • His favourite printer • His painting • What he likes about photography • The effect he wishes to have on those watching
Further exploration
Selected bibliography
• Margit Erb, Pauline Vermare and Motoyuki Shibata, All about Saul Leiter, Rm, 2018. Libraries
• Saul Leiter, Robert Benton and Carole Naggar, In My Room, Steidl Verlag, 2018. Publisher · Libraries
• Brigitte Woischnik (ed.), Saul Leiter: Retrospektive / Retrospective, Kehrer Verlag, 2015. Publisher · Libraries
• Max Kozloff and Jane Livingston, Saul Leiter Early Black and White, Steidl Verlag, 2014. Libraries
• Saul Leiter and Martin Harrison, Early Color, Steidl Verlag, 2006. Libraries
• Max Kozloff, Saul Leiter, Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2008.
Online
• Why Saul Leiter Kept His Colorful Street Photography Secret for Decades, Jacqui Palumbo, Artsy, 2020.
• Saul Leiter: 1950-60s color and black-and-white, LensCulture.
• Saul Leiter in Conversation with Vince Aletti, School of Visual Arts, video, YouTube, 2014.
• Saul Leiter review: the quiet genius who made the mundane beautiful, Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian, 2018.
• A Casual Conversation with Saul Leiter, Phil Bicker, Time, 2013.
• Saul Leiter, Howard Greenberg Gallery.
• Richard Pousette-Dart, Richard Pousette-Dart Foundation.
Photographers quoted
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Walker Evans
Eugène Atget
André Kertesz
Eugene Smith
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