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Old NYC Street Photographer Saul Leiter Gets Documented
By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 25, 2011
Modified Apr 25, 2011
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 25, 2011
Modified Apr 25, 2011
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"Haircut, 1956" and "Harlem, 1960"
Today Ephemeral NY revisits the old photos of Saul Leiter, who moved to New York City at age 23 and famously documented the city with his camera, and often expired film. (When he wasn't doing this, he was earning a paycheck at fashion shoots for magazines like Harper's Bazaar.) Well, it turns out the famous documentarian is now getting documented himself.
Leiter is the subject of an upcoming documentary by filmmaker Tomas Leach, who updated his project's website to announce the finished product would likely be available in September of this year. Watch a clip below, and another here, where he explains that he's huge in Paris! (He also spent quite a bit of time documenting that city's streets.)
Leiter, now in his 80s, is still living in New York City. In a recent interview he explained why he chose to work in color, over the preferred choice of black & white at the time, saying, "I never felt the need to do what everyone else did. And I wasn’t troubled by the fact that other people were doing other things." These days, he says, "I realize that the search for beauty is not highly popular... Agony, misery and wretchedness, now these are worth perusing."
Tagged
documentary
photography
Saul Leiter
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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