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rodica_b's review
5.0
I had this book on my nightstand for quite a while and, now that I officially finished it, I feel like I need to start it again.
This is a awe-inspiring beautiful book of photography. Saul Leiter was a painter-photographer, both literal, as he wanted to become a painter, and figuratively. His photography is all about capturing the fleeting moment, the myriad of shadows, the colors. It also captures the spirit of the city in a way that makes me go to the train station and ride into NYC at right this moment. The energy and the stillness of if all, at the same time.
Brilliant body of work, absolutely recommended to any photography lover.
This is a awe-inspiring beautiful book of photography. Saul Leiter was a painter-photographer, both literal, as he wanted to become a painter, and figuratively. His photography is all about capturing the fleeting moment, the myriad of shadows, the colors. It also captures the spirit of the city in a way that makes me go to the train station and ride into NYC at right this moment. The energy and the stillness of if all, at the same time.
Brilliant body of work, absolutely recommended to any photography lover.
robotswithpersonality's review
It appears my experience with photography collections is similar to that of poetry collections: I'm happy to spend time finding the few that stand out to me.
As has been remarked upon by much more qualified critics, I love Leiter's moments of strong colour, the pure history of witnessing snippets of daily life from the 1950s, his fondness for umbrellas.
I'm less enamoured with his often blurred, off-centre, obscured style - I don't have the formal art training to appreciate it by attributing it to the artistic movements that the essays in the back of the book do.
I was surprised by how much I loved the vibrant creativity seen in the mixed media showcased sparingly near the end of the collection: printings of black and white photos of female nudes from the 50s, subsequently liberally decorated in bright paint in the 90s. What a glorious way to summarize the generation-spanning work of a photographer and painter! 🎨📷
As has been remarked upon by much more qualified critics, I love Leiter's moments of strong colour, the pure history of witnessing snippets of daily life from the 1950s, his fondness for umbrellas.
I'm less enamoured with his often blurred, off-centre, obscured style - I don't have the formal art training to appreciate it by attributing it to the artistic movements that the essays in the back of the book do.
I was surprised by how much I loved the vibrant creativity seen in the mixed media showcased sparingly near the end of the collection: printings of black and white photos of female nudes from the 50s, subsequently liberally decorated in bright paint in the 90s. What a glorious way to summarize the generation-spanning work of a photographer and painter! 🎨📷
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