Saul Leiter

Finding Saul Leiters work was a slice of luck because i had never heard of him before. I cannot believe how much I like some of the photographs in this book, which is described inside as an 'unfinished and brilliant scrap book', which 'has the feeling of the instant which flashes across, an instant that Saul Leiter alone can see.'

I think this idea of moments and the fact that they are described as his moments that he has identified and captured in a split second perfectly encapsulates everything that I love about photography. I also really like the idea of them being 'unfinished' as many of the photographs have been hurriedly taken and are blurred or obscured in some way. I can really relate to this idea and methodology as for this project I have met and seen people along the way that I have wanted to photograph but unfortunately the window of opportunity has been so quick.This has resulted in many the blurred photograph but of which I haven't chosen to include in my books but I like this idea of a scrap book that shows a wide range of the photographs taken when out and about. there is also the sense of voyeurism that you get from looking through this book as many of the photographs appear to be taken behind objects that make there way into shot and give the impression that Saul was hiding and didn't want to be seen by his subject. I would say that my project has had elements of this at times because the project shifted when I started to use a zoom lens so that I could photograph people from further away and in some cases without the need to talk to them. It was a case of balancing this within my project as I didn't want all of my photographs to look like this as I believe there is great power in a photograph when you have someone looking right down the lens of the camera and really connecting to the fact that they are having their photo taken by a complete stranger.

I really like the colour photography in the book. There is more black and white but I think that America is a great place to shoot in colour because everywhere is full of advertising and bright signage that lends itself so well to street photography.