On Saturday, I managed to swing a brief trip to the Photographers' Gallery here in London and swept round the Saul Leiter exhibition (I had a 10 year old in tow and she was making it pretty plain that she was NOT impressed). The show itself is fine. Some great photos, some that didn't grab me at all. I really enjoyed the paintings though and so that was a pleasant surprise. I'm going to try and get back for another visit before the show closes. I suspect I'll enjoy it a lot more without the time pressures :-)
One of the other shows was by a Uruguayan photo journalist and I actually enjoyed this a lot more because of the way it was presented; lots of slide projectors throwing the images across the white walls in hap hazard fashion. The 10 year old also enjoyed it more because she liked the projectors.
However, the real excitement came in the basement area as we were about to shuffle up the stairs to leave (it was CROWDED in there). I noticed a familiar face coming towards me out from the busy bookshop area and realised after a few seconds that it was none other than a Filmwasters photographer hero, Joel "the Invisible Man" Meyerowitz!! A much-mentioned and beloved character from back when we used to have time to do our audio podcasts. I grabbed my daughter and said something to her along the lines of, "You see that tall bald man coming towards us? He's a really famous photographer!" just as he drew level with us. I was going to say hi to him, but just as I'd got my act together I realised he was a posse with him and was already in conversation with some of them. So, a shame I didn't get to have a chat, but it was still a great footnote to an enjoyable (if slightly rushed) visit to the gallery.
