Snow, 1960
Chromogenic print, printed later
Sheet size: 14 × 11 in.
Image size: 13 ½ × 9 in
Signed in ink on verso
October 21, 2024
Saul Leiter's color photography is distinguished by a particularly sumptuous kind of subjectivity. Leiter had a way of looking at the rush of New York City street life and finding moments of poised reflection, and aching beauty. Fogged and water streaked glass were some of his favorite devices, for the way that they rendered the color and atmosphere of the city as a drippy painterly haze.
Leiter described painting as his first love, and in 1946 he moved to New York City to study with Abstract Expressionist artist Richard Pousette-Dart—a fortuitous decision because, while known for his heavily layered paintings, Pousette-Dart was also active as an art photographer. Leiter began to work with Kodachrome slide film, applying a painterly sensibility to its rich palette of color, although he also made a point to distinguish between the mediums, noting that painting is "about making something" while "photography is about finding things".
Leiter's gift for looking at the rush of day to day life and finding vivid moments that could stand outside of time is the reason why he is celebrated today as one of color photography's first great artists.
