Saul Leiter

Saul Leiter was one of my favourite photographers who mastered the art of colour and distortions through glass,  through the rain and blurred visions of the city . . . but it wasn't until after he died people discovered a whole body of work as detailed below

Leiter … who died aged 89 in November 2013 – steadfastly refused to be canonised by the art world. 

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

For two ‘lost decades’, colour-photography pioneer Saul Leiter pretended he was working on nothing – when actually he was busy painting over decades’ worth of black-and-white nude photos. Sean O’Hagan celebrates the private pursuits of the quiet man of American photography 

Leiter did take more natural and intimate shots which is what he used for his paintings

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/apr/10/painted-nudes-street-photography-saul-leiter