Positive film mounts were randomly placed on top of light boxes at the Saul Leiter exhibition

The Saul Leiter exhibition in Shibuya was more crowded than expected. Many people desire to see fashionable Saul Leiter's works. The bold compositions of his photographs of society are somewhat otherworldly, and they do not try to make us dig deeper into the meanings of the people or things captured in the photographs. That is probably what makes them look cool and fashionable. I feel like I can enjoy the photos themselves, without having to be bothered by a meddlesome auntie like a meddlesome relative.

As I continued on, I eventually came to a row of large light boxes. There were a number of positive film mounts placed haphazardly on the boxes. They must have been cleaned, but even so, the film was beautiful. Judging from the fashion of the subjects, the photos must have been taken about 50 years ago. If you were to take a close-up of the photo, you might be able to see that the film has deteriorated, but the positive film, which was vividly colored on the light box, showed no sign of having passed through many years. I felt as if I had seen the underlying power of positive film. I wonder what will happen to digital photos half a century from now.

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