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LEVITT, HELEN (1913-2009) "N.Y.C. [Foreign Legion]."

LEVITT, HELEN (1913-2009)
"N.Y.C. [Foreign Legion]." Silver print, 6 1/2x9 1/2 inches (16.5x24.1 cm.), with Levitt's signature, title and date, in pencil, on verso. 1940; printed 1970s

  • Notes: Helen Levitt (1991), cover and 14.

    New York City is the predominate subject of Helen Levitt's photographs. The city's name appears in her otherwise nondescript titles, providing an open-ended analysis as to what the picture will portray. Levitt adored children and treated them in much the same way as adults. Whether photographing in Spanish Harlem or the Lower East Side, two neighborhoods known for their gritty urban character, Levitt's photographs are imbued with a lyricism that reflects her ease with both an urban environment in transition and an intimacy with its street-smart denizens.



    One of the most respected fine art photographers of the 20th century, today Levitt's photographs may be seen as sociological documents in which the effects of poverty (and graffiti) are writ large. Even though she worked in communities then thought to be off limits, even dangerous, this was never her intent. Rather, she brought a personal aesthetic to her depictions of street life, effortlessly integrating them into the fabric of the city's marvelous cultural life.

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October 22, 2009 1:30 PM EDT
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