Saul Leiter
A pioneer of colour photography, Saul Leiter's contribution to the photographic art form has only recently been recognised on a scale fitting of his genius. Leiter was born in Pittsburgh, in 1923, to a Jewish family. Although his father pushed for him to pursue his faith and become a Rabbi, Leiter, a keen student of art, aspired to become a painter and moved to New York aged 23 to realise his dream. Although he did produce a collection of paintings, it was within his photography that Leiter truly flourished. Street photography was Leiter's initial focus and like most at the time he shot in black and white, however, during the 1940s he decided to try experimenting with colour. To many photographers, using colour was considered to be unacceptable however Leiter saw the potential to create visually effective pieces and continued to experiment despite it going against what was accepted at the time. In the late 1950's he worked within the industry, doing shoots for clients such as Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. Despite his work with such high profile clients, Leiters artistry and works were not widely recognised until quite recently which is a shame as his determination to pursue colour photography at a time when it was considered improper marks him as a key figure in the evolution of photography.