Tribute to Saul Leiter

Saul Leiter is one of my favourite photographers. His work has influenced my eye, certainly. He shot mostly in the 50's with Kodachrome slide film (much like Vancouver's Fred Herzog). Not a lot of guys were shooting with colour back then and Leiter didn't see the bulk of his success until very late in his life. 

He often used elements like reflections, depth of field, and foggy windows to create distorted, surreal, paint-like images. Here are a couple examples, shot from the same window it seems:

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05Leiter-691

I pulled inspiration from those images, and others, when I stumbled upon this scene (click to embiggen): 

I like how the condensation reduces each figure into a blurry amalgamation of blobby shapes, and yet some discernible details remain. Top-right man has a receding hairline, for example. My favourite is the guy with the blue scarf. You?  

Saul Leiter also owns one of my favourite quotes:

“In order to build a career and to be successful, one has to be determined. One has to be ambitious. I much prefer to drink coffee, listen to music and to paint when I feel like it.”
— Saul Leiter

If you want to learn more about him, I highly recommend the documentary, In No Great Hurry - 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments, or send me an email. Any photos of mine that you see here are available for purchase in the Levi Groeneveld webstore or by request. 

Paris: December

I like it! The weather is quite nice - not too cold or rainy, just a chilly enough to break out the scarves and knit sweaters. It has snowed once for a total of 3 minutes 37 seconds and none of the snow stuck. It was less busy the first part of the month, with some tourists moving in for Christmas and New Years.  

My wife and I had our first Christmas away from our families. They were sorely missed, but it was also nice to just relax and do our own thing. On Christmas Eve, we went to the Nutcracker at the Opera Bastille. First ballet for me and I was impressed. My favourite part was the "Pas de Deux", which was borderline life-changing (not my video):

After the ballet, we went over to Notre-Dame Cathedral for midnight mass. There was a choir and the organ was going and everything - very powerful. On Christmas day, we opened presents and then headed over the La Grande Roue de la Concorde - a huge ferris wheel type thing. Paris did her thing with some of that trademark light. After that, we had a Christmas dinner in our 130 square foot apartment. Cozy! 

Take a look at some of my photos from December (click to embiggen and for captions):

Soon, we will be off to Germany and Austria on a short trip! 

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments, or send me an email. Any photos that you see here are available for purchase in the Levi Groeneveld webstore or by request. 

All images © Levi Groeneveld - Travel and Fine Art Photographer

Les Parapluies

Rainy day umbrellas outside of the Picasso Museum 

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments, or send me an email. Any photos that you see here are available for purchase in the Levi Groeneveld webstore or by request. 

All images © Levi Groeneveld - Travel and Fine Art Photographer

Paris: November

November was the Mois de la Photo (the month of photography) in Paris. Dozens of galleries have exhibitions on all sorts of different photographers. I visited the majority of them and soaked in some inspiration. 

I am beginning to get bored with Pictures of Pretty Things these days and am seeking out the weird or gritty or interesting (to me). Maybe something that I will explore some more in the future. 

Lots of rain this month, which reminded me of home. Take a look at some photos from the past month. Click to embiggen and to read captions. 

Nighttime in the rain. Click to expand.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments, or send me an email. Any photos that you see here are available for purchase in the Levi Groeneveld webstore or by request. 

All images © Levi Groeneveld - Travel and Fine Art Photographer

Abstract Series: Cascais

Check out a series of abstract photos I made while in Cascais, Portugal. Would look pretty cool on a wall, especially at a large scale. 

There are more where that came from, so if you are looking for a triptych or an... octo...tych, let me know! 

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments, or send me an email. Any photos that you see here are available for purchase in the Levi Groeneveld webstore or by request. 

All images © Levi Groeneveld - Travel and Fine Art Photographer

Paris: October

Autumn in Paris is amazing. The weather is fantastic, there are fewer tourists, and you can pull those chunky sweaters out of the closet... err, suitcase. Here are some photos from this past month. Click to embiggen and to read captions: 

Big news this month is that we have a longish-term rental all sorted out. Awesome location with a great view and an elevator! The catch? 130 square feet. Yes, seriously. Probably the smallest apartment you have ever seen. The smallest I've ever seen up till this point was 360 sqft, so this one is TINY. I will be posting some shots of it and the floor plan at some point, but in the meantime, here is the view: 

Not bad! 

 

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments, or send me an email. Any photos that you see here are available for purchase in the Levi Groeneveld webstore or by request. 

All images © Levi Groeneveld - Travel and Fine Art Photographer