Better Call Saul

Better Call Saul -

 

Better Call Saul is one of my favourite images from last year. So far it has also gone on to become one of my most successful images, finishing second in the Fine Art Photography awards and making Editors Pick on LensCulture in the critics choice awards, and the street photography awards plus an honourable mention in The Minimalist Photography Awards. With this in mind, I thought I would write a little piece about how the image came about and why it’s called Better Call Saul.

 

First of all, there’s the obvious answer. Better Call Saul is a fantastic hit TV series that started life as a Breaking Bad spinoff.

 

But that’s only part of it.

 

The title more so refers to a wonderful old photographer called Saul Leiter, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1923. He’d been photographing since he was about 11 but in the 40’s he started shooting in colour the people of his nieghborhood, even though shooting street in colour was often frowned upon during the era as not being classy enough.

 

Thankfully his work was recognised in later life and is now widely regarded as a master of photography, he also worked for Harper’s Bizarre and other big names in the fashion industry.

 

But there is one image in particular that always caught my eye.

 

It’s shot through a window covered in condensation with some writing on. There’s a guy in the street is wearing a cap, and right behind him is a flash of yellow from a truck.

 

The image is called snow and was shot in 1970 the year I was born. Maybe thats another reason it stuck in my head.

   SNOW, Saul Leiter, 1970

 

Walking down Fore Street in Salcombe, it was that image that flashed into my head.

 

A guy was standing in the sun under the bright yellow of the Salcombe original takeaway sign, wearing a Panama hat.

 

Unfortunately, I made the cardinal sin of any photographer. I didn’t have my camera with me.

 

So, I looked at it and said to myself ‘damn, that’s one image that got away.’

 

But that night, lying in bed, I couldn’t get Saul Lieter’s beautiful image out of my head. I decided to check the weather for tomorrow; it was the same as it had been today. With this in mind, I resolved to try and wait for the right person to pass by the sign.

 

Off I went, standing across the street in anticipation. After a few hours, I realised no one of interest was passing the sign. But while standing there, I realised something else - that the end of ‘Salcombe’ and ‘the original’ spelt out ‘Be Original’, which is something that I’ve been striving for in my photography since I started making images in the 80’s.

 

This, however, made the image even more difficult to capture. The timing had to be perfect. I needed the perfect person to pass the sign at the perfect moment, and I needed to be ready for it.

 

It took four days in total. This, apparently, is called Fishing. A street photography term where you stand in a specific location waiting for someone to pass in some beautiful light.

 

While waiting for someone to pass, I kept thinking about Saul Leiter, how he would have shot the image, and how he probably would have done a better job, and it probably wouldn’t have taken him four days to get it either.

 

Hence the name.

 

You Better Call Saul if you want a better image, because this is the best I have.

 

Unfortunately Saul died in 2013, but he’s been an inspiration to me and many, many others over the years. This image wouldn’t have ever happened without him inspiring me.

 

If you would like to find out more about Saul visit https://www.saulleiterfoundation.org