Milton Keynes may feel like it could be a cultural moonscape, but they have a thriving theatre, a lively shopping centre, and a great art gallery called MK.
I took my mother with me to see an exhibition of work by Saul Leiter, who was a fashion photographer and painter, who died in 2013.
The photographs in the exhibition, are a mix of his private and professional collection, all have a typographical edge to them and an enjoyment of the human form. He studied Japanese calligraphy, which is evident in his work, and use of depth of field. His paintings were influenced by abstract expressionism, as where he lived in New York, he was surrounded by artists, Mark Rothko being one of them.
His photographs tell the everyday story of life in 1950s New York, right up to early 2000’s. His fashion photography for Harpers Bazar is casual and engaging, and his use of colour shows the hand of an artist who was ahead of his time. He often shot his photos on out of date film stock, to experiment with the resulting colours, which would develop during film and print processing.
In his work he talks of the importance of love, over the importance of all else, and this thread runs through his work, it is evident that he loved community, people and adventure.
The exhibition has finished, but MK is hosting its summer show from end of June to end of September, which will be a riot I’m sure.
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