Saul Leiter

© Saul Leiter

A lengthy interview with Saul Leiter is found on the Photographers Speak Blog, entitled Saul Leiter: The Quiet Iconoclast.

From Photographers Speak: Saul Leiter has been redefining the parameters of street photography since the 1940s. Working in both black and white and color, he exhibited from the beginning of his career a distinct visual grammar that features off-center perspectives, compressed spatial dynamics, and a predilection for breaking up the frame in unpredictable and exciting ways. His color work, which went unrecognized for decades, is perhaps even more radical in its asymmetrical visual rhythm and defiantly unsaturated tonalities inspired by Johannes Vermeer. Leiter’s work is further distinguished by its indifference to decisive moments of human intercourse. In fact, Leiter might be regarded as the master of the “indecisive” moment – those in-between moments when nothing of much importance seems to be happening but which resonate with a profound if understated sense of interior drama.

'....I didn’t photograph people as an example of New York urban something or other. I don’t have a philosophy. I have a camera. I look into the camera and take pictures. My photographs are the tiniest part of what I see that could be photographed. They are fragments of endless possibilities.'  [Read more...]

© Saul Leiter

From Lens Culture: 'I spent a great deal of my life being ignored. I was always very happy that way. Being ignored is a great privilege. That is how I think I learnt to see what others do not see and to react to situations differently. I simply looked at the world, not really prepared for anything.' 

'Art critic Roberta Smith wrote in 2005: .... Mr. Leiter captured the passing illusions of everyday life with a precision that might almost seem scientific, if it weren't so poetically resonant and visually layered.'
[Read full article with photos...]

In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter

A film has been made about Saul Leiter. Look out for it in your next local film festival.  [Film website]

See also: Retronaut.
 

Fotofever Brussels 4-7 Oct 2012

© Denis Dailleux - Le Port De James Town La Voile-Galerie 127

From Fotofever: For its first edition in the heart of Europe, fotofever, a contemporary photography fair, brings together leading galleries, editors, institutions, and collectors to thrill an eagerly awaiting public. In the 5000m2  space of “Tour & Taxis” and through a meticulous selection to highlight its 60 galleries, fotofever presents an unseen private collection, a solo-show of the winner of the fotoprize rewarding the work of a young European talent, fototalks, a video space, a VIP programme, etc…[Read more...]

Paddle8 offers international collectors online access to a selection of curated works from the galleries, foundations and fairs, via a 'VIP' personal account. [Create account]

Portrait de femme avec loupe, 1987 © Collection Galila Marc Le Mene

From Le Journal de la Photographie - Fotofever 2012: Diary of Matthieu Wolmark: As a sort of distant homage to the commercial evolution of our developed countries, the fair is as diverse in genre as it is in quality. From one stand to another, the works of superstars appear next to those by inspired photographers, whether or not they’re famous, like those opportunistic works destined for oblivion. Old-school gallerists speak fondly of their photographers as if they were family, and next door, young art dealers and merchants present their works like they were selling stocks. [Read more...]

From Le Journal de la Photographie - Juliette Deschodt: Cécile Shall, founder and director of the festival aims to show to the visitors the diversity of contemporary photography. She also wishes that the festival be a platform for the new artists by promoting new talents. She is thinking about expanding the festival to other continents. The future will tell. The program is mainly european, although a Moroccan gallery is also part of the exhibitors. With more than sixty galleries and fifteen participating countries, the festival is growing. [Read more...]

Adore Noir Portfolio Competition 2012 winners announced

© Eric Kellerman

From Adore Noir Magazine: We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 Adore Noir Portfolio Contest! The image which will appear on the cover of "Issue 10" has been selected by Susan Spiritus and will be revealed on October 1, 2012. {Read more...] 

Jesse Marlow wins 2012 Bowness Photography Prize

Australian street photographer Jesse Marlow has been awarded Australia’s most prestigious photography award, the Bowness Photography Prize.

From Monash Gallery of Art: This is the first time a street photographer has won the $25 000 prize. Marlow’s winning photograph Laser vision is an ambiguous and disorientating image of a chance encounter during the photographer’s daily travels around the streets of Melbourne. Marlow said, “contrived photographic shoots and intricately designed set-ups have never interested me. Rather it is the uncertainty of street photography that continues to stimulate. [Read more...] [Jesse Marlow website]

Photo © Jesse Marlow

Conscientious Portfolio Competition 2012

CPC 2011 winner Yaakov Israel

From Joerg Colberg, Conscientious: I’m excited to announce the Conscientious Portfolio Competition 2012, the fourth of its kind. As before, the winner(s) will have their work featured here on this website, in the form of an extended conversation/interview. Two guest judges, Robert Lyons (director of the Hartford Art School Limited-Residency Photography MFA Program) and Michel Mallard (one of the masterminds behind the International Photography Festival in Hyères), are joining me to pick the winner(s) - and there’s a twist. Find all the details below. I will introduce Robert and Michel in more detail in a separate post.

The Conscientious Portfolio Competition (CPC) is free to enter. It’s no pay-to-play scheme. There are no costs involved for you other than the time it takes to decide about and send in your work.

CPC is aimed at emerging photographers. The term “emerging” is not extremely well defined. What it means is that photographers not represented by a gallery will get preferential treatment over those that already are (but of course, the quality of the work also plays an important role). ... The deadline is 31 October 2012, 11:59pm ET. No exceptions. [Read more...]

Brian Ulrich: Copia

Granger, IN, 2003 © Brian Ulrich

From Brian Ulrich's Website: Over the past 10 years I have been engaged with a long-term photographic examination of the peculiarities and complexities of the consumer-dominated culture in which we live. This project titled Copia, explores not only the everyday activities of shopping, but the economic, cultural, social, and political implications of commercialism and the roles we play in self-destruction, over-consumption, and as targets of marketing and advertising. 

Initially this project began as a response to the heated environment of 2001. The communal sense of grieving, healing and solidarity that broke down social walls as our nation grappled to make some sense of the tragedy of September 11th was quickly outpaced as the government encouraged citizens to take to the malls to boost the U.S. economy thereby equating consumerism with patriotism. [Read more...] [View Copia]

Untitled, 2005 © Brian Ulrich

From Lost in E Minor interview, Sept 10, 2008: It does seem the only thing that will change Americans habits is circumstance. You can tell people over and over that driving a huge car is harmful and wasteful and they may even agree but most will only drive less if they can’t afford pay for gas. There may be less people out shopping these days but sadly no one is having the discussion over whether we do in fact need some of these things or what is the economic, and political fallout from building a society that is only as prosperous as it has money to buy things that are disposable and imported.

Belz Factory Outlet Mall, 2009 © Brian Ulrich

My most recent project from this year has been exploring these issues moreso in terms of retail space. The stores themselves seem the real indicator that Late Capitalism is failing. The economic model of basing a nation's well being on the GDP, Dow or profits of the smallest percentage of our country is one I believe terribly misguided. The abuse of that system leaves communities in neglect, unemployment rates rising and skyrocketing trade deficit. [Read more...]

Brian Ulrich also contributed to a discussion of EF Schumacher's book of essays, small is beautiful, for The Guardian's The Big Ideas podcast and gives an introduction to his work on Vimeo: