Now or Later? Saul Leiter

So once upon a time you would notice something in a magazine, think yes, that looks interesting, an hour later you'd have forgotten the name, the next day the whole idea would be gone.

Now with the internet I look up more details, pin things on pinterest, write a quick blog, and it's not only stuck  in my mind and available in the cloud but my knowledge of it is enriched.

So..to the latest person to cross my radar, Saul Leiter. Apparently a painter firstly, but in the magazine his photos caught my eye, a couple of photos taken through steamed windows. In the past he has taken hundreds of the usual run of black and white, very beautifully done, he's been working for 66 years, but what pulls me up short about these  coloured  photos is their almost abstract quality; many are more like collages; he has an eye for the vivid stains of red and orange in city life, with glimpsed scenes of parts of people going about their everyday business. Beautiful!
 
Not only has he always continued to take photos and paint, he has also combined the two by applying gouache and watercolour to his photos of nudes.No doubt that's why his photos have such a painterly quality.

"I must admit that I am not a member of the ugly school. I have a great regard for certain notions of beauty even though to some it is an old-fashioned idea. Some photographers think that by taking pictures of human misery, they are addressing a serious problem. I do not think that misery is more profound than happiness."
Saul Leiter

Leiter is the subject of a 2013 documentary 'In No Great Hurry - 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter.'  Must look it up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7arEQR8PdA