Tender Is the Light

Beginning with an ＂education＂ at the elbow of his friend William Eggleston, this ＂ballade photographique＂ traces David Julian Leonard’s paths across twenty years from his American birthplace in Memphis to his adopted French home of Arles. His storytelling choices are equally informed by his work on documentary films as a cinematographer and editor. For this collection of photographs he offers no formal thesis, only an invitation to open our eyes and take the ride through a startling mélange of candid moments and surreal scenes captured by the camera.

This book features an introduction by the renowned New York-based photography collector and curator W.M Hunt.

DAS AUF AMAZON.DE ANGEGEBENE ERSCHEINUNGDATUM BEZIEHT SICH NUR AUF USA. DER TITEL IST IN EUROPA AB MAI LIEFERBAR, AUCH DURCH AMAZON.DE /
THE PUBLICATION DATE INDICATED HERE IS ONLY FOR USA. THIS TITLE IS AVAILABLE IN EUROPE IN MAY, ALSO ON AMAZON.DE

David Julian Leonard is an American photographer and filmmaker from Memphis where he was born in 1962.
He brings a background in motion pictures to his work as a still photographer. As a grip and lighting technician in the 1990s, he worked on feature films and other projects (as David Leonard). He was fortunate to work with a remarkable streak of directors and cinematographers who came to Memphis for projects including Francis Coppola, Milos Forman, John Toll and Phillipe Rousselot.
More recently he has been cinematographer, director and editor on documentaries often devoted to the rich music heritage of the region from his native Tennessee through Mississippi to New Orleans. 2014 he edited the concert film Big Star: Live In Memphis from footage that had been left in a cupboard for almost 20 years.
In his pursuit of still photography he has been strongly encouraged by his friend and fellow Memphian William Eggleston who also has greatly influenced his understanding of art.
Leonard’s art photography has brought him more often to Europe, where he has exposed in England, Scotland, Portugal, Denmark and France. Some of his finest photographs have been created during travels to Arles and he and his wife Valentine, who is French, now try to find more time to spend in a second home they’ve found there in the historic Roquette neighborhood.

W.M. Hunt is a photography collector, curator and consultant who lives and works in New York. His collection of photographs is the subject of ＂The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious＂ published by Thames & Hudson in the UK, Aperture in the US and as ＂L’Oeil Invisible＂ by Actes Sud in France. Highlights of the collection have been exhibited at the George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, NY and at the Rencontres d’Arles, Musee de l’Elysee in Lausanne and FOAM_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam. A dealer for many years, he was a principle in Hasted Hunt and Ricco/Maresca Gallery and responsible for introducing many major contemporary artists in the US. Hunt has been a judge or nominator for World Press Photo, SONY WPO, Prix Pictet, Getty Images, etc. He has been a longtime board member of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund, AIPAD (Association of International Photography and Art Dealers), and The Center for Photography at Woodstock. He also teaches at the School of Visual Arts and for many years he has produced the ＂Your Picture ...＂ panels for PDN.