Circa 1942
Helen Levitt often commented that the reason she expressed herself through photography was that she was inarticulate with the spoken word. One of the most celebrated photographers of the 20th century among her peers but least known by the public, from a young age she wanted to create art but knew her talents with a paintbrush or a charcoal pencil were limited. She discovered a way to artistically express herself — through the lens of a camera.
Levitt was born in Brooklyn, New York. At 18, she dropped out of high school to work in a portrait photographer’s darkroom — eventually trying her hand at photography. She trained herself to take better compositions by studying paintings in museums around New York and then using her mother’s friends as practice subjects. In 1936, after discovering the works of French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson she purchased her first camera and began to take pictures of neighborhood children making sidewalk chalk drawings.
Levitt took her portfolio to the studio of Walker Evans — another photographer which she admired. Struck by her thoughtful compositions and natural talent, he hired her as his assistant. She began photographing ordinary street life in the lower-class neighborhoods of East Harlem, the Lower East Side and the Garment District in New York City.
In 1939, Levitt’s photographs were published in Fortune magazine. Later that same year, she received a grant from the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Guggenheim Foundation. Seeing a similarity in film noir to what she was trying to capture in black and white photography, she became a film editor. She worked on several films including The Quiet One, an Academy Award nominee.
In 1959 Levitt began to photograph in color but eventually returned to black and white photography in the 1990s. A collection of her photographs of children and their chalk drawings were eventually published, in 1987, in a book called In the Street: Chalk Drawings and Messages. Some of her color photographs were published in Slide Show in 2005.
On 1stDibs find original Helen Levitt black and white photography, portrait photography, color photography and more.
New York
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
All the elements of a classic Helen Levitt photograph are in place here: the stoop of a Manhattan brownstone, a couple of ragamuffin children, a rich tableau of expressive body lang...
Silver Gelatin, Photography
New York City
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
What makes Helen Levitt’s photos of children unique and treasured, is that she truly valued the unpredictable quality of children’s play. One of the charms of this picture is the pri...
Silver Gelatin, Photography
New York City (gumball machine)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
Dye transfer print. Signed in pencil on verso. Beginning in the late 1930's, Helen Levitt's ability to capture expressive gesture established her reputation as a master of lyrical p...
Photography, Dye Transfer
New York City (striped socks)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
12 x 8 inch type-c print, signed on verso. Helen Levitt was a true master of the street, one whose poetic vision, humor, and inventiveness transformed the gritty world of New York C...
C Print
New York (consoling woman)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
11 x 14 inch gelatin silver print. Image size 7.25 x 10.75 inches. Signed on verso Helen Levitt was a true master of the street, one whose poetic vision, humor, and inventiveness tr...
Silver Gelatin
New York City (man with camera)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print, printed later. Signed and notated "N.Y. 1988" on verso. Helen Levitt was a true master of the street, one whose poetic vision, humor, and inventiveness transfo...
Silver Gelatin, Photography
Three Boys on a Swing, Pitt St. N.Y. - Black and White Photograph, Children
Located in Denton, TX
Three Boys on a Swing, Pitt St. N.Y. by Walter Rosenblum is a black and white photograph documenting three children playing on a swing set in a city park. Gelatin Silver Print 10.5 ...
Silver Gelatin
Children in Harlem, New York, Signed Archival Pigment Print, 19x13, Edition 7/10
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Children, Harlem, New York, USA 1963 by Leonard Freed is a 19" x 13" signed archival pigment print in an edition of 10. Signed by the estate on back of photograph by Freed's widow Brigitte Freed. Available: 7/10. Provenance: Freed estate *** Artist’s Bio: Leonard Freed (1929-2006) was an American photographer from Brooklyn, New York. His "Black in White America" series made him known as a documentarian. Freed worked as a freelance photographer from 1961 onwards and as a Magnum photographer Freed traveled widely abroad and, in the US, photographing African Americans (1964-65), events in Israel (1967-68, 1973), and the New York City police department...
Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigme...
New York Scene (Sidewalk Race) Silver Gelatin Print, Mid-20th Century
By John Albok
Located in Denton, TX
Vintage gelatin silver print, 7 3/4 x 9 3/4 in. Dated and artist stamp on print verso. Born in Munkacs, Hungary, John Albok learned photography as a boy. He came to the U.S. in 1921...
Silver Gelatin
Harlem (Three Cowboys)
By John Albok
Located in Denton, TX
John Albok Harlem (Three Cowboys), 1938 Vintage gelatin silver print, 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. Titled in pencil on mount margin. Signed and dated by John Albok in pencil, artist stamp in bl...
Silver Gelatin
Kids with Circus Poster, NYC
By Morris Engel
Located in Denton, TX
Signed in black ink on print margin. Signed in pencil on print verso. Paper size: 14 x 11 in. Image size: 13 1/4 x 11 1/4 in. Morris Engel was an American street photographer and ci...
Silver Gelatin
Neighborhood Kids on Stoop in Red Hood Brooklyn - Vintage Brooklyn
By Mitchell Funk
Located in Miami, FL
Kids from the Neighborhood in Red Hood Brooklyn are hanging out. This is what Brooklyn was like in the early 1970s. Notice the metal garbage cans. S...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
