Helen Levitt

[uhligfd]

I just learned that Helen Levitt died Saturday night in her sleeep, age 95 in New York.

http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/0,1518,616259,00.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/arts/design/30levitt.html?_r=1&hpw

Sad news.

 

[sepiareverb]

That image of the little girl playing in the water in the gutter, against the green car is perfection in balance while retaining a complete off-kilter wackiness to this eye.

 

[Andrew Sowerby]

I read about this on the Online Photographer earlier today. Sad news indeed.

Her colour stuff is great, but I've always liked this picture a lot:

link

 

[Spider67]

Thanks for the post!

 

[uhligfd]

I think that person balancing on the green car, crouched in the gutter is relieving herself. Got to go ...

But maybe I am wrong ...

 

[Spider67]

Interesting how the articles differ in one major point:

Spiegel:
"Der große Lehrmeister der 1913 in New York geborenen Levitt war Henri Cartier-Bresson, einer der wichtigsten Fotografen des 20. Jahrhunderts."
Translates as: The great teacher of the New York born Levitt was HBC one of the most important Photographers of the 20th century.

New York Times:
"In 1935 she met Cartier-Bresson when he spent a year in New York. On one occasion she accompanied him when he photographed along the Brooklyn waterfront."

But both agree in one point:
Spiegel: Ein Jahr später kaufte sie sich ihren ersten eigenen Fotoapparat, eine Leica..., eigenständig zu fotografieren. One year later she bought her first camera a Leica ...

NYT:In 1936, she bought a secondhand Leica, the camera Cartier-Bresson favored.

 

[helen.HH]

She will be MISSED....
I adore her work
I do HOPE there will be a Retrospective of her work at MOMA here in NY

 

[Rick Waldroup]

You know what I really liked about her work? Her sense of humour. It is difficult to express that in street photography and she did it with such ease.....

 

[Andrew Sowerby]

You know what I really liked about her work? Her sense of humour. It is difficult to express that in street photography and she did it with such ease.....

I agree. This picture is great:

link

I just love that young cat sauntering along.


And then, of course, there's this one:

link

 

[kbg32]

I loved her work.

 

[xayraa33]

I always got her confused with Ruth Orkin.

 

[kermaier]

Requiescat in pace. Her B&W work from "A Way of Seeing" still ranks among the best street photography ever made. She will be missed.

 

[Bill Pierce]

Helen Levitt

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/arts/design/30levitt.html?pagewanted=1

The great Helen Levitt has died. No one was better on the streets of NY than this sweet, shy woman.

 

[kshapero]

Also a great admirer. A true loss.

 

[Peter Klein]

I learned a great deal from her photos. And she really captured my parents' and grandparents' New York, which I still remember from visits as a little kid in the mid-50s. She was one of the greats, for sure. She was also not interested in self-promotion. And reclusive. I wonder why.

--Peter

 

[msheppler]

There's a wonderful book of her work that was just published in 2008 by Powerhouse Books. It shows her b & w and color work. It may be out of print but new copies are still available at a reasonable price.

 

[charjohncarter]

Thanks for posting, I'm not in the street photographer group, but she had that something that we all would like to have.

 

[35mmdelux]

An admirer. A great loss to the photog community. RIP

 

[Pablito]

great story on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2009/03/helen_levitt.html?ps=bb1

Her color work was groundbreaking. A precursor of Meiselas?

 

[kshapero]

great story on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2009/03/helen_levitt.html?ps=bb1

Her color work was groundbreaking. A precursor of Meiselas?

Those ten shots are priceless.