“I spent a great deal of my life being ignored.
I was always very happy that way.
Being ignored is a great privilege.” – Saul Leiter
A week ago I did something unthinkable: I actually bought something on Black Friday! I ordered the book “All about Saul Leiter”, as I’ve only recently discovered the work of this genius. I knew I was going to love the photos, but what I didn’t expect was to relate so deeply to this man’s thoughts.
He had a very particular view on art and life in general – I guess you could call him kind of a maverick – which probably explains why he didn’t receive more recognition for his work until very late in his life. What fascinates me the most though is that not only he didn’t seem to care about that at all, he actually thrived on it! He created an amazing body of work while being relatively ignored by most (at least compared to many other famous photographers of the same period). On this day and age where it seems that nobody does anything anymore unless it brings them some sort of reward (be it fame, money, credibility or whatever), there is something very special about people who create art as an end in itself, instead of a means to an end. True artists create because they have to, not because they’re supposed to.
Timothy Michael recently published a blog post that addresses this same topic and that I highly recommend reading. And, of course, if you have the chance do get the Saul Leiter book because it’s worth every penny.
Life, Unintended 
!being ignored! not easy to pursue but I consider it a true way of life since I started thinking 😉
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Awesome! Saul is a favorite of mine as well. Very inspiring post man, thanks for the mention as well ❤️
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Likewise, loved your post on this topic too! I feel like the more the (artistic) world moves to a reward-based society, the more I appreciate those who go the opposite direction and make art just for the pleasure of doing it, with complete disregard for the conventions that would bring them more exposure.
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Totally agree—have you read Henry Miller? He writes a lot about this sort of thing. I love how he describes the role of the artist. It’s something he struggled with as well. I’ve gone down a rabbit hole recently in trying to understand what it means to be an artist and live a creative life. His way of thinking has been very influential for me. Keep creating man! I love your work📸📸
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Thanks man! I have not read it, I must confess. Which book would you recommend starting with?
I never thought too much on the role of the artist and the reasons for creating art before, because I kinda always assumed everyone did it for self-expression… but recently I’ve been confronted more and more often with people doing stuff just to get noticed and getting really mad when they don’t get the recognition they deserve (in their heads, at least). That kind of attitude baffles me completely, it’s like they’re trying to build a house from the roof!
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