20 Facts About Helen Levitt

Helen Levitt was an American photographer and cinematographer.

Helen Levitt was particularly noted for her street photography around New York City.

Helen Levitt went to New Utrecht High School but dropped out in 1931.

Helen Levitt 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.

Helen Levitt attended many classes and events hosted by the Manhattan Film and Photography League, and got acquainted with the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson at the Julien Levy Gallery, who she was able to meet through the league.

Helen Levitt's 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.

Helen Levitt began to photograph these chalk drawings, as well as the children who made them for her own creative assignment with the Federal Art Project.

Helen Levitt continued taking street photographs in Manhattan, mainly in Spanish Harlem but in the Garment District and on the Lower East Side.

Helen Levitt's work was first published in Fortune magazine's July 1939 issue.

Helen Levitt lived in New York City and remained active as a photographer for nearly 70 years.

Helen 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.

Helen Levitt was most well known and celebrated for her work taking pictures of children playing in the streets.

Helen Levitt focused her work in areas of Harlem and the Lower East side with minority populations.

Helen Levitt stepped away from the normal practice set by other established photographers at the time of giving a journalistic depiction of suffering.

Helen Levitt instead chose to show the world from the perspective of children from taking pictures of their chalk art.

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.

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

Helen Levitt seldom gave interviews and was generally very introverted.

Helen Levitt never married, living alone with her yellow tabby Blinky.

Helen Levitt died in her sleep on March 29,2009, at the age of 95.