New York City (boys dancing)
View Similar Items
Helen LevittNew York City (boys dancing)Circa 1942
Circa 1942
About the Item
- Creator:Helen Levitt (1913-2009, American)
- Creation Year:Circa 1942
- Dimensions:Height: 14 in (35.56 cm)Width: 11 in (27.94 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU30224463532
Helen Levitt
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.
- Kuroiso City, Tochigi Prefecture (#0177)By Toshio ShibataLocated in New York, NY32 X 40 inch gelatin silver print, edition 10 Framed to 42 x 49.75 inches, in white frame Signed, titled, dated and editioned on label verso. OTHER SIZES AVAILABLE - PLEASE INQUIRE. ...Category
1980s Contemporary Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- B Train (from the series A Story of the New York Subway)By Kazuo SumidaLocated in New York, NY14 x 11 inch gelatin silver print. Edition 15. Signed on verso. Kazuo Sumida first visited New York in 1995. He found the city to be one of “both bustle and silence,” particularly the underground world of the subway, where he encountered “a place full of characters.” By 2002, he had produced a large body of work of images taken in this subterranean metropolis – tender scenes of lovers and children; gritty portraits of beggars for whom the subway is home; artists, musicians, commuters, and others who pass through the tunnels on their daily journeys. The resulting monograph, A Story of the New York Subway, was published in 2002. Sumida was born in 1952 in Kochi Prefecture in southern Japan. Although photography was not his formal career, Sumida has pursued the art throughout his life. He graduated from Osaka Photography Graduate School in 1983, and also studied at the International Center of Photography in New York, on a fellowship from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs. He lives in Japan, and continues to visit New York frequently. His work has been shown at the Tokyo Ginza Kodak Photo...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- Marilyn Monroe Riding the ElephantBy WeegeeLocated in New York, NYThis image features a costumed Marilyn Monroe, adorned with valuable jewelry and riding a pink-painted elephant. The occasion was opening night of the Ringling Brothers...Category
1950s Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- Untitled (from the "Women Are Beautiful" portfolio)By Garry WinograndLocated in New York, NYThis print is from the artist's "Women Are Beautiful" portfolio, published in 1981. This 11 x 14 inch print is framed is a silver metal frame measu...Category
1960s Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- Two CallasBy Imogen CunninghamLocated in New York, NYThis supremely elegant photograph illustrates why Imogen Cunningham’s botanical pictures are a keystone of modernist photography. In the 1920s, Cunnin...Category
1920s Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- Chez MondrianBy Andre KerteszLocated in New York, NYWhen André Kertész moved to Paris from his native Hungary in 1925, he quickly became immersed in the city’s artistic milieu. The Dutch painter Piet Mondrian had been living in Paris ...Category
1920s Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- Jerry Garcia, San Francisco, CA 1969By Herb GreeneLocated in New York, NY16x20” Limited Edition Next available edition printed upon purchase. Other sizes available. Please allow 4 weeks for production.Category
Mid-20th Century Contemporary Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- Jimmy Page, San Francisco, CABy Herb GreeneLocated in New York, NY16x20” Limited Edition Next available edition printed upon purchase. Other sizes available. Please allow 4 weeks for production.Category
Mid-20th Century Contemporary Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- George Harrison and John Lennon, Abbey Road Studios, London, 1967By David MangusLocated in New York, NY16x20” Limited Edition Next available edition printed upon purchase. Other sizes available. Please allow 4 weeks for production.Category
Mid-20th Century Contemporary Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- Jerry Garcia, San Francisco, CABy Herb GreeneLocated in New York, NY16x20” Limited Edition Next available edition printed upon purchase. Other sizes available. Please allow 4 weeks for production.Category
Mid-20th Century Contemporary Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- Jerry Garcia and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, San Francisco, CA 1967By Herb GreeneLocated in New York, NY16x20” Limited Edition Next available edition printed upon purchase. Other sizes available. Please allow 4 weeks for production.Category
Mid-20th Century Contemporary Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin
- Led Zeppelin, San Francisco, CABy Herb GreeneLocated in New York, NY16x20” Limited Edition Next available edition printed upon purchase. Other sizes available. Please allow 4 weeks for production.Category
Mid-20th Century Contemporary Black and White Photography
MaterialsSilver Gelatin