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Forever Saul Leiter
This revealing collection of Saul Leiter’s work, much of it published here for the first time, underscores the photographer’s unique contributions to the development of twentieth-century photography and the use of color. Saul Leiter’s painterly images evoke the flow and rhythm of life on the midcentury streets of New York in luminous color, at a time when his contemporaries were shooting in black and white. His mastery of color is displayed in unconventional cityscapes in which reflections, transparency, complex framing, and mirroring effects are married to a very personal printing style, creating a unique kind of urban view; his complex and impressionistic photographs are as much about evoking an atmosphere as nailing the decisive moment. Leiter’s studio in New York’s East Village, where he lived from 1952 until his death in 2013, is now home to the Saul Leiter Foundation, which is undertaking a full-scale survey and organization of Leiter’s more than eighty thousand images with the aim of compiling his complete archive. This volume contains items discovered through this valuable documents that reveal the secrets of Saul Leiter’s process, unpublished works, popular color works, black-and-white images that have never been published before, as well as images that hold the memories of those closest to him, taken in private. As Saul Leiter said, “photographs are often treated as capturing important moments, but they are really small fragments and memories of the world that never ends.” 247 illustrations
309 pages, Paperback
Published January 14, 2020
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About the author
Saul Leiter
26 books39 followersSaul Leiter was an American photographer and painter whose pioneering work in color photography and nuanced street scenes made him a central, though often underappreciated, figure of the New York school of photography. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Leiter initially pursued a religious path, studying to become a rabbi like his father, a renowned Talmudic scholar. However, by the age of 23, he left theology school and moved to New York City to become an artist.
Influenced early on by the Abstract Expressionist painter Richard Pousette-Dart and photographer W. Eugene Smith, Leiter soon turned to photography. He began with black-and-white images using a 35mm Leica and by 1948 had started experimenting with color photography—decades before it became widely accepted as an art form. His work from this period revealed a painterly sensitivity to light, form, and abstraction, setting him apart from the grittier, more confrontational style of many contemporaries such as Robert Frank48591 and William Klein. Instead, Leiter sought tranquility in the chaos of New York, often capturing poetic glimpses of life through fogged windows, reflections, and delicate color fields.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Leiter sustained his artistic practice through fashion photography, contributing to Harper’s Bazaar, Show, Elle, and British Vogue. His editorial work, though commercial, retained his distinct aesthetic sensibility and subtle sense of narrative.
Leiter’s contributions to photography remained relatively overlooked for much of his life, but later years brought a resurgence of interest. Edward Steichen had included him in a 1953 exhibition at MoMA, but it wasn't until the 1990s and 2000s that retrospectives and publications such as Early Color (2006), edited by Martin Harrison, reintroduced his remarkable body of work to new audiences. In 2008, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation hosted his first major European museum show. That same lyrical vision is the subject of the 2013 documentary In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter.
A prolific artist in both photography and painting, Leiter continued creating work until his death in New York City in 2013. His photographs are now part of major public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Often referred to as a quiet master, Saul Leiter left behind a singular vision—intimate, painterly, and timeless—that continues to inspire photographers and art lovers around the world.
Influenced early on by the Abstract Expressionist painter Richard Pousette-Dart and photographer W. Eugene Smith, Leiter soon turned to photography. He began with black-and-white images using a 35mm Leica and by 1948 had started experimenting with color photography—decades before it became widely accepted as an art form. His work from this period revealed a painterly sensitivity to light, form, and abstraction, setting him apart from the grittier, more confrontational style of many contemporaries such as Robert Frank48591 and William Klein. Instead, Leiter sought tranquility in the chaos of New York, often capturing poetic glimpses of life through fogged windows, reflections, and delicate color fields.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Leiter sustained his artistic practice through fashion photography, contributing to Harper’s Bazaar, Show, Elle, and British Vogue. His editorial work, though commercial, retained his distinct aesthetic sensibility and subtle sense of narrative.
Leiter’s contributions to photography remained relatively overlooked for much of his life, but later years brought a resurgence of interest. Edward Steichen had included him in a 1953 exhibition at MoMA, but it wasn't until the 1990s and 2000s that retrospectives and publications such as Early Color (2006), edited by Martin Harrison, reintroduced his remarkable body of work to new audiences. In 2008, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation hosted his first major European museum show. That same lyrical vision is the subject of the 2013 documentary In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter.
A prolific artist in both photography and painting, Leiter continued creating work until his death in New York City in 2013. His photographs are now part of major public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Often referred to as a quiet master, Saul Leiter left behind a singular vision—intimate, painterly, and timeless—that continues to inspire photographers and art lovers around the world.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 19, 2025
كتاب جميل تاني عن المصور Saul
وهو فنان كمان .. ف بعض رسوماته ف الكتاب وصور لأخته وصديقته كمان
الصور حلوة والكلام قليلة اوي .. بعض سطور وده حلو لكتب المصورين من وجهة نظري
الفيلم الوثائقي وفيديو لتصوير الكتب هيكون متاح ع قناة عن الفن ع اليوتيوب لو حد مهتم
@3nelfn
وهو فنان كمان .. ف بعض رسوماته ف الكتاب وصور لأخته وصديقته كمان
الصور حلوة والكلام قليلة اوي .. بعض سطور وده حلو لكتب المصورين من وجهة نظري
الفيلم الوثائقي وفيديو لتصوير الكتب هيكون متاح ع قناة عن الفن ع اليوتيوب لو حد مهتم
@3nelfn
July 25, 2022
What a beautiful book!
I’m new to Saul Leiter’s work but he’s slowly becoming a firm favourite in film photography.
Saul Lieter mainly photographed his neighbourhood in New York and watched it change over the decades and you see that in his work, mainly by the fashion and the cars.
Leiter is known for being a pioneer of ‘colour photography’ before him photography consisted only of black and white. Leiter’s use of colour is truly remarkable, his work evokes comparisons to paintings by Monet or Renoir.
It’s no surprise that Leiter was a painter and wanted to pursue this form of art before a camera was placed in his hand.
A lot of his work is out of focus so you have to rely solely on the colours. Some are through windows and mirrors which gives an almost voyeuristic charm to the photos, almost like you as the viewer shouldn’t be looking.
Saul Leiter’s work is magical and truly dazzling, I struggle a little with stress and can take too much on against my better judgment and I found myself opening this book and just examining the photos, it brought so much tranquility in me.
Saul Leiter was always in search of beauty and I think he found it in his own back yard.
I’m new to Saul Leiter’s work but he’s slowly becoming a firm favourite in film photography.
Saul Lieter mainly photographed his neighbourhood in New York and watched it change over the decades and you see that in his work, mainly by the fashion and the cars.
Leiter is known for being a pioneer of ‘colour photography’ before him photography consisted only of black and white. Leiter’s use of colour is truly remarkable, his work evokes comparisons to paintings by Monet or Renoir.
It’s no surprise that Leiter was a painter and wanted to pursue this form of art before a camera was placed in his hand.
A lot of his work is out of focus so you have to rely solely on the colours. Some are through windows and mirrors which gives an almost voyeuristic charm to the photos, almost like you as the viewer shouldn’t be looking.
Saul Leiter’s work is magical and truly dazzling, I struggle a little with stress and can take too much on against my better judgment and I found myself opening this book and just examining the photos, it brought so much tranquility in me.
Saul Leiter was always in search of beauty and I think he found it in his own back yard.
July 14, 2023
See my notes In Retrospektive
The Leiter photography here has some outstanding gems, but the quotes from him give this book an added dimension, a richness that goes beyond photography. And I find inspirational.
“I see this world simply. It is a source of endless delight.”
“I did things because I liked doing it.
When I’m asked: Why did you do certain things?
Because I liked it.”
“I have sometimes overlooked the fact
that something was actually of some importance.”
“I happen to believe in the beauty of simple things.
I believe that the most uninteresting thing can be very interesting.”
“I do like photographs where sometimes everything’s lost and in some corner something’s going on and you’re not quite sure what it is.”
“When I look at certain things, I find them attractive or interesting or beautiful, and I take pictures.
Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re not so good…”.
(Ha! This! So many times I’ve looked at something, thought it interesting, took the photo, and later looked at it and knew I hadn’t captured what I’d seen in my mind’s eye.)
I like how in so many shots his subject is distant, that there’s a lot of foreground; I also like his shooting through rainy/foggy glass, (offering its own blend of distortion) often finding a splash of color on the other side.
Akiko Otake’s piece is insightful.
The Leiter photography here has some outstanding gems, but the quotes from him give this book an added dimension, a richness that goes beyond photography. And I find inspirational.
“I see this world simply. It is a source of endless delight.”
“I did things because I liked doing it.
When I’m asked: Why did you do certain things?
Because I liked it.”
“I have sometimes overlooked the fact
that something was actually of some importance.”
“I happen to believe in the beauty of simple things.
I believe that the most uninteresting thing can be very interesting.”
“I do like photographs where sometimes everything’s lost and in some corner something’s going on and you’re not quite sure what it is.”
“When I look at certain things, I find them attractive or interesting or beautiful, and I take pictures.
Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re not so good…”.
(Ha! This! So many times I’ve looked at something, thought it interesting, took the photo, and later looked at it and knew I hadn’t captured what I’d seen in my mind’s eye.)
I like how in so many shots his subject is distant, that there’s a lot of foreground; I also like his shooting through rainy/foggy glass, (offering its own blend of distortion) often finding a splash of color on the other side.
Akiko Otake’s piece is insightful.
August 14, 2021
My understanding of Japanese, is rather limited; I have, a limited understanding of photography, but the work here is beautiful. There is a lot here- I guess more trips to the library and bookstore, are in order.
December 1, 2023
Excellent book. Paperback but well produced and full of Leiter's photographs - good reproduction. Really enjoyed it good insight into a very reserved man.
January 6, 2026
I'm a big fan of Saul Leiter he's my favourite photographer. I loved the collection of photographs in this book along with his quotes. some great reading from different people towards the end too.
if you don't know Saul Leiters work this would be a great I'm a big fan of Saul Leiter he's my favourite photographer. I loved the collection of photographs in this book along with his quotes. some great reading from different people towards the end too.
if you don't know Saul Leiters work this would be a great introduction.
if you don't know Saul Leiters work this would be a great I'm a big fan of Saul Leiter he's my favourite photographer. I loved the collection of photographs in this book along with his quotes. some great reading from different people towards the end too.
if you don't know Saul Leiters work this would be a great introduction.
April 18, 2025
Paraphrasing Leiter: painting is creating; photography is finding.
Beautiful and vast in experimentation I can’t help but see photography (in this case Leiter’s impressionistic street photography) as inherently archival— it is spontaneity fixed.
This served as my gentle recommendation to flip through a photobook; go through Google images and space out into these fragments of worlds.
Maybe listen to Brian Eno’s Ambient series while you’re at it ;)
Beautiful and vast in experimentation I can’t help but see photography (in this case Leiter’s impressionistic street photography) as inherently archival— it is spontaneity fixed.
This served as my gentle recommendation to flip through a photobook; go through Google images and space out into these fragments of worlds.
Maybe listen to Brian Eno’s Ambient series while you’re at it ;)
April 9, 2024
“Seeing is a neglected enterprise.”
Saul Leiter
Color photography allowed Saul Leiter to see the world in a way that was uniquely his own with reflections, blurs and shadows. I'm so inspired by his work.
Anyone who loves photography should buy this book IMHO.
Saul Leiter
Color photography allowed Saul Leiter to see the world in a way that was uniquely his own with reflections, blurs and shadows. I'm so inspired by his work.
Anyone who loves photography should buy this book IMHO.
August 14, 2024
I've enjoyed having books.
I've enjoyed looking at paintings.
I've enjoyed having someone in my life that I care about who cares about me.
I attached more importance to that than I did to the idea of success.
-- Saul Leiter
I've enjoyed looking at paintings.
I've enjoyed having someone in my life that I care about who cares about me.
I attached more importance to that than I did to the idea of success.
-- Saul Leiter
December 25, 2024
best enjoyed in a dark room with a small portable warm origami lamp and ‘abstract classical mix’ on spotify
saul leiter and his work are an endless inspiration i deeply connect with
this book was a christmas gift for myself just because
saul leiter and his work are an endless inspiration i deeply connect with
this book was a christmas gift for myself just because
May 16, 2023
A wonderful world though Saul Leiter’s world. His resolve to shun ambition and to simply be himself is something to be admired. This book is a must for any photographer with a soul.
February 19, 2024
stunning
i didn’t know about saul leiter and his work before that, it’s magnificent
i didn’t know about saul leiter and his work before that, it’s magnificent
December 22, 2024
My first stop in NY is his archive foundation
January 11, 2025
Wonderful surprise Christmas present. Beautiful.
May 2, 2025
C'est une chance qu'il n'y ait qu'à ouvrir ce livre pour entrer dans un monde silencieux et contemplatif, celui de Saul Leiter.
September 28, 2023
it is a good one. i wish they captured more of his words there as well as photos. I would suggest watch a documentary by Tomas Leach at first if you feel like knowing the man a bit before buying the books or afterwards
Currently reading
April 18, 2023So far so good. Great poetic photography
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews