Helen Levitt (August 31, 1913 – March 29, 2009) was an American photographer and cinematographer. She was particularly noted for her street photography around New York City. David Levi Strauss described her as "the most celebrated and least known photographer of her time."

Early life and education

Levitt was born in Bensonhurst,

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, the daughter of May (Kane), and Sam Levitt. Her father and maternal grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. She went to New Utrecht High School but dropped out in 1931.

Work in photography

She began photography when she was eighteen and began working for J. Florian Mitchell, a commercial portrait photographer in the Bronx, where she learned how to develop photos in the darkroom. She also attended many classes and events hosted by the Manhattan Film and Photography League, and got acquainted with the work of

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French artist and Humanist photography, humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 135 film, 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street ...

at the Julien Levy Gallery, who she was able to meet through the league. His work became a major influence for her photography as it inspired her to change from her more journalistic and commercial approach to photography to a more personal one. In 1936, she purchased a 35 mm rangefinder camera. While teaching art classes to children in 1937 for New York City's Federal Art Project, Levitt became intrigued with the transitory chalk drawings that were part of the New York

children's street culture Children's street culture refers to the cumulative culture created by young children. Collectively, this body of knowledge is passed down from one generation of urban children to the next, and can also be passed between different groups of chil ...

of the time. She began to photograph these chalk drawings, as well as the children who made them for her own creative assignment with the Federal Art Project. They were ultimately published in 1987 as ''In the Street: Chalk Drawings and Messages, New York City 1938–1948''. She continued taking street photographs in Manhattan, mainly in Spanish Harlem but also in the Garment District and on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

. During the 1930s to 1940s, the lack of air conditioning meant people were outside more, which invested her in street photography. Her work was first published in '' Fortune'' magazine's July 1939 issue. The new photography section of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York included Levitt's work in its inaugural exhibition in July 1939. In 1941, she visited

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

with Alma Mailman, then wife of author James Agee, and took photos in the streets of Tacubaya, a working-class suburb. In 1943,

Nancy Newhall Nancy Wynne Newhall (May 9, 1908 – July 7, 1974) was an American photography critic. She is best known for writing the text to accompany photographs by Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, but was also a widely published writer on photography, co ...

curated her first solo exhibition ''Helen Levitt: Photographs of Children'' with photographs from Harlem and Mexico City. In 1959 and 1960, she received two grants from the Guggenheim Foundation for her pioneering work in color photography. In 1965 she published her first major collection, ''A Way of Seeing''. Much of her work in color from 1959 to 1960 was stolen in a 1970 burglary of her East 12th Street apartment. The remaining photos, and others taken in the following years, can be seen in the 2005 book ''Slide Show: The Color Photographs of Helen Levitt''. A second solo exhibit, ''Projects: Helen Levitt in Color'', was held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1974. Her next major shows were in the 1960s; Amanda Hopkinson suggests that this second wave of recognition was related to the feminist rediscovery of women's creative achievements. In 1976, she was a Photography Fellow of the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

. Levitt lived in New York City and remained active as a photographer for nearly 70 years. However, she expressed lament at the change of New York City scenery: "I go where there's a lot of activity. Children used to be outside. Now the streets are empty. People are indoors looking at television or something."

Work in film making

During WWII, Levitt served as assistant film editor at the Office of Inter-American Affairs, producer-editor of stock footage film ''Here Is China'' (1940), and as assistant film editor at the Office of War Information Overseas Branch in New York City 1944–45. In the late 1940s, Levitt made two documentary films with Janice Loeb and James Agee: '' In the Street'' (1948) and '' The Quiet One'' (1948). Levitt, along with Loeb and Sidney Meyers, received an Academy Award nomination for ''The Quiet One''. ''Another Light'' (1952) is dramatized documentary about a small town and its new hospital, focusing on the reactions of an elderly farmer, a housewife, and a businessman. The film explains how town citizens in Ridgewood, NJ, raised construction funds, and how the hospital supports and serves the community. Presented by the Federal Security Agency's Public Health Service, the film was produced by William Levitt, written by William B. Mahoney, camera by Richard Leacock, co-edited by Levitt and Loeb, and directed by Levitt. Made by Film Documents Productions.Levitt was active in film making for nearly 25 years; her final film credit is as an editor for John Cohen's documentary ''The End of an Old Song'' (1972). Levitt's other film credits include the cinematography on '' The Savage Eye'' (1960), which was produced by Ben Maddow, Meyers, and Joseph Strick, and also as an assistant director for Strick and Maddow's film version of Genet's play '' The Balcony'' (1963). In her 1991 biographical essay, Maria Hambourg wrote that Levitt "has all but disinherited this part of her work." In 2012 Deane Williams published a comprehensive overview of Levitt's films in ''Senses of Cinema.'' A critical review of Levitt's filmmaking career.

Style and themes

Helen Levitt was most well known and celebrated for her work taking pictures of children playing in the streets. She also focused her work in areas of Harlem and the Lower East side with minority populations. There is a constant motif of children playing games in her work. She stepped away from the normal practice set by other established photographers at the time of giving a journalistic depiction of suffering. She instead chose to show the world from the perspective of children from taking pictures of their chalk art. She usually positions the camera and styles the photo in a way that gives the focus of her photography power. Her choice to display children playing in the street and explore street photography, fights against what was going on at the time. Legislation being passed in New York at the time was limiting many of the working classes access to these public spaces. Laws were passed that directly targeted these communities in an attempt to control them. New bans on noise targeted working class and minority communities. There was a movement to also try to keep children from playing on the street, believing it is unsafe for them out there. Instead, it encouraged safe new areas that were usually built more in upper and middle class areas. Helen Levitt instead explored the narrative of those who lived in these areas and played in these streets as a way to empower the subjects of her photos.

Personal life and death

She had to give up making her own prints in the 1990s due to sciatica, which also made standing and carrying her Leica difficult, causing her to switch to a small, automatic

Contax Contax (stylised as CONTAX in the Yashica/Kyocera era) began as a German camera model in the Zeiss Ikon line in 1932, and later became a brand name. The early cameras were among the finest in the world, typically featuring high quality Carl Zeis ...

. She was born with Ménière's syndrome, an inner-ear disorder that caused her to " eelwobbly all erlife." She also had a near-fatal case of pneumonia in the 1950s. Levitt lived a personal and quiet life. She seldom gave interviews and was generally very introverted. She never married, living alone with her yellow tabby Blinky. Levitt died in her sleep on March 29, 2009, at the age of 95.

Awards

*1946: MoMA photography fellowship *1959 and 1960:

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

*1976:

Photography Fellow *1997: ICP Infinity Award, Master of Photography *2008: Francis J. Greenburger Award for excellence in the arts *2008: , accompanied by an exhibition at the Sprengel Museum, Hanover *2022: International Photography Hall of Fame

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*1943: ''Helen Levitt: Photographs of Children'', Museum of Modern Art, New York, curated by

(alongside a solo show by Eliot Porter: ''Birds in Color'') *1949:

Photo League The Photo League was a cooperative of photographers in New York City, New York who banded together around a range of common social and creative causes. Founded in 1936, the League included some of the most noted American photographers of the mid-20 ...

, New York, with John Candilario *1952: Institute of Design,

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

, Chicago, with Frederick Sommer *1963: ''Three Photographers in Color,'' MoMA, New York, with Roman Vishniac and William Garnett *1974: ''Projects: Helen Levitt in Color'', Museum of Modern Art, New York, continuous projection of 40 color slides, curated by John Szarkowski *1975: Pratt Institute, Brooklyn *1976: Nexus Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia *1980: Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C. (catalogue) *1980: Sidney Janis Gallery, New York *1980: ''Helen Levitt: Color Photographs,'' Grossmont College, El Cajon, California (catalogue) *1982: Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco (again in 1986, 1994, and 1996 ..? *1983: ''Street Portrait: The Photographs of Helen Levitt''

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

*1985: Moderna Museet, Stockholm *1987: International Center of Photography, New York *1987: Laurence Miller Gallery, New York (1989–92 annually, 1996 ..? *1988: The Photographers' Gallery, London *1991: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, first major retrospective in US, toured North America until 1994 (catalogue) *1993: Seattle Art Museum, with Mary Ellen Mark *1994: (Palacio de los Condes de Gabia), Spain, toured (catalogue) *1997: International Center of Photography, New York *1998/99: Frankfurter Kunstverein, Rupertinum, Salzburg, Festspielgalerie Berlin, and Villa Stuck, Munich (catalogue) *2001: Centre national de la photographie, Paris *2007: Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, Paris *2008: Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam *2008: Sprengel Museum, Hanover, accompanied her award for the (catalogue) *2010: PHotoEspaña, Madrid, 2010 and toured (catalogue) *2018/19: Albertina Museum, Vienna (catalogue) *2021/22: ''In the Street'', The Photographers' Gallery, London, Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam (catalogue) *2023: ''

, Helen Levitt - Mexico,'' Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris

Group exhibitions

*1939:

, New York *1949: ''Six Women Photographers,'' MoMA, New York *1955: '' The Family of Man,'' MoMA, New York, worldwide touring exhibition (catalogue) *1965: ''Photography in America 1850–1965,''

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, New Haven, Connecticut *1968: ''Harlem on My Mind,''

(MET), New York *1973: ''Landscape/Cityscape,'' MET, New York *1978: ''Mirrors and Windows,'' MoMA, New York, touring exhibition until 1980 (catalogue) *1981: ''The New Color: A Decade of Color Photography,'' Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse. New York *1985: ''American Images 1945–80,'' Barbican Art Gallery, London, touring exhibition in UK *1988: ''Evocative Presence,'' Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas *1988: ''Convulsive Beauty: The Impact of Surrealism on American Art,'' Whitney Museum, New York *1988: ''Diamonds Are Forever, ''

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, Washington, D.C., touring exhibition *1989: ''The New Vision: Photography Between the World Wars,'' MET, New York (catalogue) *1989: ''Photography: 150 Years,'' Australian National Gallery, Canberra *1989: ''Fotografi: 150 År,'' Fotografiska Museet, Moderna Museet, Stockholm *1989: ''On the Art of Fixing a Shadow,'' National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.,

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, and Ikona Photo Gallery,

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, Italy (catalogue) *1991: ''Motion and Document,'' Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, touring exhibition (catalogue) *1991: ''American Documents in the Finge,'' Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (catalogue) *1992: ''This Sporting Life,'' High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia (catalogue) *1993: ''Mexico Through Foreign Eyes,'' ICP, New York, touring exhibition (catalogue) *1994: '' American Surrealist Photography,'' MoMA, New York *1995: ''American Photography 1890–1965 from the Museum of Modern Art,'' touring exhibition in Europe (catalogue) *1995: ''Images of an Era: Selections from the Permanent Collection,'' Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles *1996: ''Highlights of the Permanent Collection,'' ICP, New York *1997: '' Documenta X,'' Kassel, Germany

Films

* '' In the Street'' (1948): cinematographer and editor * '' The Quiet One'' (1948): cinematographer and writer * '' The Stairs'' (1950): producer * ''Steps of Age'' (1951), for the Mental Health Film Board * ''Another Light'' (1952): director and co-editor with Janice Loeb * '' The Savage Eye'' (1960): cinematographer * '' The Balcony'' (1963): assistant director * '' An Affair of the Skin'' (1963): co-producer with Ben Maddow * '' In the Year of the Pig'' (1968): co-editor with Hannah Moreinis * '' The End of an Old Song'' (1972): editor

Publications

* ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Helen Levitt: New York Streets 1938 to 1990s
at LensCulture * . Note that there is occasionally confusion of Levitt's film credits with those of Helen Slote Levitt. {{DEFAULTSORT:Levitt, Helen American street photographers 1913 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American photographers 20th-century American women photographers American cinematographers American people of Russian-Jewish descent People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn People with Ménière's disease Photographers from New York (state) Jews from New York (state)