Helen Levitt's "Crosstown"

SteveM(PA)

SteveM(PA)

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Thanks to interlibrary loan, I am the custodian of this book for the next two weeks. I admittedly didn't know too much about her, but now I want to know everything. These pictures are so engaging. She's right in there amongst the action, as if invisible. I just listened to an archived NPR interview with her, and she says she used an angle finder on her Leica (and she gives the German name for it) but I assume it was a WINTU like Rich S. has.

Also, I understand she is still living in the same apartment in the Village, and still photographing, at age 94(?). She is intensely private and refuses interviews, yet I read here on RFF that Sean Reid interviewed her about her subway photos, a few years back. Quite an accomplishment Sean. Can you elaborate any further about the experience?

Anyway, the book I have here before me is beautiful...big...heavy. Apparently there are less than 6000 copies, and it goes for $150 on Amazon, so needless to say, I will treat this like a treasure for the next two weeks. 🙂

Oh, here is a link to the NPR interview (streaming media):

http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/jan/levitt/020117.levitt.html
 
this book was featured on mike johnston's weekly column. it was still in print, so i got one. it's one of my favorites. when i got interested in bw photographers who moved into color, i picked up "slide show", which should still be reasonably priced.

she has such a great eye for body language, especially in bw. her work in color is less concerned with that aspect, but there're are other nice things to it.
 
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Steve, thanks for that NPR interview link.

There is a Levitt print at the MFA in Boston that my wife and I both love. I'd never heard of Levitt either until I saw that print. Even my wife, who admittedly knows very little about photography, found Levitt's work to be very human and engaging. We are now admirers of her.
 
I have a book of her color work - "Slide Show: The Color Photographs of Helen Levitt". Beautiful. She is a national treasure.

There has been a tradition of subway photographs from Paul Strand, Walker Evans, Bruce Davidson, and of course, many, many more.
 
Thanks for the link. When people list their favorite photogs from that era she often seems to be overlooked but clearly belongs among the best.
 
Thanks for the tip. I love her work. It reminds me of Robert Frank's work, only a generation before.

It's amazing how the faces in our country change, yet the people remain surprisingly similar. For a more recent take on a similar subject check out Vincent Cianni's work from "We Skate Hardcore," www.vincentcianni.com. It covers the kids in his Williamsburg Brooklyn neighborhood.

jz
 
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