Exhibition: Saul Leiter

I recently visited the Photographer’s Gallery to view the exhibition ‘Saul Leiter: Retrospective’. I had not previously been aware of Saul Leiter but had read that his style very much influenced the cinematography of the recent film Carol. He was an early exponent of the use of colour in cityscapes (predominately New York) and had a very unconventional and innovative approach to his photography. It’s a great exhibition and worth a visit before it ends in early April.                                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

Snow 1960 Saul Leiter, Taxi 1957 Saul Leiter, Foot on El 1954 Saul Leiter

I love how he combines colours (yellows and reds very much being a theme). I love his use of layers. As viewers, we are often looking through something – a  window, rain, snow or something entirely abstract. It is not always obvious. Sometimes there are so many layers it is difficult to decipher exactly what is going on. But everything is wonderfully suggestive.  It is also always worth looking beyond the foreground and middle ground because nothing is included without meaning and clear intention. Mostly, however, I am drawn to his play with the abstract and the unfocused elements of his images. I am definitely inspired to learn, experiment and explore further.

http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/saul-leiter-retrospective

 

Exhibitions

Dimbola Museum, Isle of Wight http://www.dimbola.co.uk/

Dimbola was the home of photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. I was intrigued to read that at the time Cameron was criticised in some quarters for a lack of focus in her images. Cameron apparently implied that it was creative use of soft focus – although she later admitted that some of the blur was due to errors on her part. Creative experimentation I guess! I expect the established world of photography at the time was somewhat put out by a mere woman muscling in on their profession. A pre-Raphaelite influence very evident -strong but not necessarily beautiful faces.

Also hosting ‘Portrait of an Island’ by Steve Blamire & Julian Winslow http://www.julianwinslow.com/portrait-of-an-island/
I loved this exhibition – a series of portraits of the cultural community on the Isle of Wight  eg artists, musicians, writers, sculptors etc. They are very staged portraits that use context and props to convey the various individuals’ creativity. Interestingly, I have also recently seen a book which presents a series of portraits of craftspeople here in Herefordshire. The images in the book are very much active portraits of the artists doing what they do – decent, informative photographs but with little aesthetic beauty in themselves. ‘Portrait of an Island’, however, is undoubtedly a fine art exhibition – would I not love one of those images on my wall!