Saul Leiter’s Followers (36)

Saul Leiter

Born

in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, The United States

December 03, 1923

Died

November 26, 2013

edit data

Saul Leiter was an American photographer and painter whose pioneering work in color photography and nuanced street scenes made him a central, though often underappreciated, figure of the New York school of photography. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Leiter initially pursued a religious path, studying to become a rabbi like his father, a renowned Talmudic scholar. However, by the age of 23, he left theology school and moved to New York City to become an artist.
Influenced early on by the Abstract Expressionist painter Richard Pousette-Dart and photographer W. Eugene Smith, Leiter soon turned to photography. He began with black-and-white images using a 35mm Leica and by 1948 had started experimenting with color photography—decades before Saul Leiter was an American photographer and painter whose pioneering work in color photography and nuanced street scenes made him a central, though often underappreciated, figure of the New York school of photography. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Leiter initially pursued a religious path, studying to become a rabbi like his father, a renowned Talmudic scholar. However, by the age of 23, he left theology school and moved to New York City to become an artist.
Influenced early on by the Abstract Expressionist painter Richard Pousette-Dart and photographer W. Eugene Smith, Leiter soon turned to photography. He began with black-and-white images using a 35mm Leica and by 1948 had started experimenting with color photography—decades before it became widely accepted as an art form. His work from this period revealed a painterly sensitivity to light, form, and abstraction, setting him apart from the grittier, more confrontational style of many contemporaries such as Robert Frank48591 and William Klein. Instead, Leiter sought tranquility in the chaos of New York, often capturing poetic glimpses of life through fogged windows, reflections, and delicate color fields.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Leiter sustained his artistic practice through fashion photography, contributing to Harper’s Bazaar, Show, Elle, and British Vogue. His editorial work, though commercial, retained his distinct aesthetic sensibility and subtle sense of narrative.
Leiter’s contributions to photography remained relatively overlooked for much of his life, but later years brought a resurgence of interest. Edward Steichen had included him in a 1953 exhibition at MoMA, but it wasn't until the 1990s and 2000s that retrospectives and publications such as Early Color (2006), edited by Martin Harrison, reintroduced his remarkable body of work to new audiences. In 2008, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation hosted his first major European museum show. That same lyrical vision is the subject of the 2013 documentary In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter.
A prolific artist in both photography and painting, Leiter continued creating work until his death in New York City in 2013. His photographs are now part of major public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Often referred to as a quiet master, Saul Leiter left behind a singular vision—intimate, painterly, and timeless—that continues to inspire photographers and art lovers around the world. ...more

Combine Editions
Saul Leiter’s books

Average rating: 4.58 · 1,157 ratings · 89 reviews · 27 distinct works • Similar authors

	All about Saul Leiter by Saul Leiter, Motoyuki Shibata (Contributor) 4.62 avg rating — 264 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Early Color 4.65 avg rating — 231 ratings — published 2006 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Saul Leiter by Saul Leiter (photographer), Daniel De Bruycker (Contributor), Max Kozloff (Contributor) 4.53 avg rating — 213 ratings — published 2008	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Forever Saul Leiter 4.68 avg rating — 123 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Saul Leiter by Saul Leiter (Photographs), Vince Aletti (Text), Adam Harrison Levy (Text) 4.66 avg rating — 76 ratings — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Saul Leiter: In My Room by Saul Leiter (Photographer), Robert Benton (Foreword) 4.33 avg rating — 76 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Saul Leiter: Early Black and White 4.52 avg rating — 65 ratings — published 2007 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Colors by Saul Leiter (Photographer), Sam Stourdzé 4.38 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The unseen Saul Leiter it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 5 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Painted Nudes by Saul Leiter, Mona Gainer-Salim (Introduction) 4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Saul Leiter…

Quotes by Saul Leiter (?)

“In order to build a career and to be successful, one has to be determined. One has to be ambitious. I much prefer to drink coffee, listen to music, and to paint when I feel like it.”
― Saul Leiter

1 likes

“There are the things that are out in the open and then there are the things that are hidden, and life has more to do, the real world has more to do with what is hidden, maybe. You think?”
― Saul Leiter

0 likes

“Life is about those who are hidden.”
― Saul Leiter

tags: the-centennial-retrospective

0 likes

See all Saul Leiter's quotes »

Saul Leiter’s Followers (36)

Saul Leiter

Combine EditionsSaul Leiter’s books

Combine Editions
Saul Leiter’s books