Saul Leiter

Saul Leiter was an American photographer who worked in black and white and in color. He captured the majority of his images, whether street photographs or nudes and intimate portraits, in his downtown Manhattan neighborhood. Leiter is considered a pioneer because with his first monograph, Early Color (2006), he changed the conversation on the history of color photography. Leiter also built a successful fashion career starting in the 1950s, in magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, and like his street work his fashion photographs feature dramatic compositions and the clever use of reflection. Depicting a quieter and more mysterious New York than the frenetic city found in most artists’ visions, Leiter used windows and mirrors to mask or abstract images, incorporating painterly elements and a muted color palette. His photographs slow down the viewer into a mindful, meditative state.