It all started with a photograph. On a rainy day I headed downtown with my camera to look for some people with umbrellas as I really like photographing umbrellas. I stopped inside a vestibule of a mall and found a large water-streaked window. I waited for someone outside to walk in front of it with an umbrella and a few minutes later a lady obliged. It turned out to be a very good image and I posted it online in a photography forum.
It received some nice attention but one comment in particular caught my attention. Someone responded that the image reminded him a lot of Saul Letier's work. I was intrigued...who was Saul Leiter? Did he like umbrellas as much as me? I immediately did some Google research to see more of his work...
What I found floored me. His photography was amazing. Magical, mystical, artistic...in a word, genius. It was unlike anything I'd seen from other street photographers. I became an instant fan.
As I learned more about Leiter it became clear he liked going against the grain. He did not care what others thought. He photographed what he liked because he liked it. Much of Leiter's famous street photography images were taken in the '50s and '60s and during that time he caught a lot of flack because he used color film. Black and white was considered the medium for "serious" photographers. Leiter did not care. He liked the color he found on the streets whether it was a red umbrella or yellow taxi cab. He is now considered a pioneer of color photography.
Early in my street photography adventures I fell into this trap that black and white was better. Leiter's work opened my eyes to the amazing color that can be found in the streets. I find most of my "keepers" these days to be color images.
Another thing he did differently is shoot with telephoto lenses. Despite being in New York where it's generally considered better to shoot with wide angle lenses to capture all the things happening close to you, Leiter choose longer lenses many times to compress space and isolate details. This had a big impact on me as it helped me realize that photographing the streets does not mean wide angle lenses capturing big scenes.
Tragically, much of Leiter's genius was not discovered until much later in his life. It was not until the '90s that his work started to get appreciated. He died in 2013.
Discovering Leiter was the big kick in the pants I needed to keep doing street photography despite living in a small city. His work taught me that you do not have to be in New York, London, or Paris to do street photography well. In today's world where social media trends can be too much of an influence, Leiter's attitude of just photographing what you like is a reminder to do what you love.
Without discovering him my first book, Perspectives, would not have happened. I wish Saul was alive today...I can imagine him sipping tea in his East Village apartment where he lived for almost 60 years. I'd love to visit and thank him for the inspiration...
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