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.
New York City (striped socks)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
12 x 8 inch type-c print, signed on verso. Helen Levitt was a true master of the street, one whose poetic vision, humor, and inventiveness transformed the gritty world of New York C...
C Print
New York (consoling woman)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
11 x 14 inch gelatin silver print. Image size 7.25 x 10.75 inches. Signed on verso Helen Levitt was a true master of the street, one whose poetic vision, humor, and inventiveness tr...
Silver Gelatin
Untitled Portrait
By Seydou Keïta
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV Plexi ($900 value), free shipping, and a 14-day return policy. Seydou Keïta Untitled Portrait, 1952 - 1955 (02158) 23...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Ted Higby at Skyline Rodeo, 1928
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV plexiglas, free shipping and a 14 day return policy. Ted Higby at Skyline Rodeo, 1928 15 x 12 inch gelatin silver print Image Size: 14 x 8.5 inches Frame size: 22.5 x 17.5 x 2 inches Edition of 15 Lora Webb Nichols was born in 1883 and grew up in the small mining town of Encampment, Wyoming. At the age of 16 Lora received her first camera and from that moment and for the next few decades she produced work that is both stunning in its singular voice and revealing in the world it opens up for us. At first Nichols photographed her family, friends, and the landscape around Encampment, but when the town experienced a copper mining boom Nichols expanded her scope to become a photographer for hire shooting portraits and industrial photographs. When the boom collapsed, Nichols took the risk of opening her own business in Encampment - The Rocky Mountain Studio - which opened in 1925. The studio ran for ten years, accumulating 24,000 negatives that illustrate the lives and environment of the people living in and around the town while creating a distinctive and surprising body of work. If one was to attempt an analogy – Nichols’ pictures fit somewhere between Lartigue and Lange - joyful and generous while objectively intimate. In particular what seems to distinguish Nichols’ work is the way she sees the world from a female perspective. As Vince Aletti...
Silver Gelatin
Slim Aarons 'Sea Drive'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Sea Drive 1967 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity. Film producer Kevin McClory takes his wife Bobo Segrist and th...
C Print
$5,000
H 11 in W 14 in
Eve Babitz and Marcel Duchamp playing chess during Duchamp's Pasadena Art Museum
By Julian Wasser
Located in New York, NY
Listing is for an unframed print and includes free shipping to the continental US and 14-day return policy. Julian Wasser Eve Babitz and Marcel Duchamp pl...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Bea with a whip at The Other Side
By Nan Goldin
Located in New York, NY
Nan Goldin Bea with a whip at The Other Side 1973 Gelatin silver print 14 x 11 inches; 36 x 28 cm Edition of 100 Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in graphite (lower right verso) ...
Silver Gelatin
$1,639Sale Price|20% Off
H 20 in W 24 in
Daniel Craig Contact Sheet (Limited Edition of 25) - Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
This is a 2002 contact sheet (a positive print of all the negative images from a roll of 35mm film or medium format film) of youthful-looking Daniel Craig...
Silver Gelatin
$1,870Sale Price|44% Off
H 20 in W 16 in D 0.03 in
16 x 20" Professional Bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, Signed
By Jack Mitchell
Located in Senoia, GA
16 x 20" vintage silver gelatin photograph of professional bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger (and future film star and Governor of California) posing at the top of his form in Octobe...
Silver Gelatin
$2,400
H 20 in W 15 in
"The Glimmer Twins - Mick Jagger" Photography 20x15 in by Charlie Auringer
Located in Culver City, CA
"The Glimmer Twins - Mick Jagger" Photography 20x15 in by Charlie Auringer Year: 1978 Edition of 50 Medium: Silver gelatin limited edition photographic print on paper Signed and num...
Silver Gelatin
$3,279Sale Price|20% Off
H 30 in W 30 in
Daniel Craig (Limited Edition of 25), 30x30 In - Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
Daniel Craig, photographed in 2002 by British celebrity and fashion photographer, John Stoddart, prior to Craigs casting as 007, James Bond. Craig was th...
Silver Gelatin
$8,199
H 30 in W 40 in
The Swan, With Leda (Limited Edition of 25) - 30x40 In Fine Art Print
Located in New York, NY
This 2009 photograph by legend photographer, John Stoddart depicts “The Swan with Leda.” It was inspired from the mythology of the Greek story of Leda and the Swan, when the God Zeus...
Silver Gelatin
$6,559Sale Price|20% Off
H 40 in W 30 in
Tilda Swinton (Limited Edition of 25), 30x40 In - Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
This 1986 black and white photograph was shot by British celebrity and fashion photographer, John Stoddart, captures Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton,...
Silver Gelatin
Madelaine, New York, NY
By Patricia Heal
Located in Hudson, NY
Pictured is Edition #1/10 and is the framed price. This image is available also in the two other paper sizes unframed. British-born photographer Heal creates an image where her ...
C Print
New York (three kids with masks)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
8 1/8 x 11 inch gelatin silver print, printed later. Titled and dated by the artist on verso as "N.Y. circa 1942." Helen Levitt was a true master of the street, one whose poetic vis...
Silver Gelatin
New York (one boy consoling another)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
7 x 11 inch gelatin silver print - signed, titled, and dated on verso. Provenance - from the James Agee Family Collection Helen Levitt was a true master of ...
Silver Gelatin
New York ("Spider Girl")
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
This work is one of Helen Levitt's most iconic color images, and one of only five images made as dye transfer prints. The image size measures 9.25 x 14.25 inches, and the print is si...
Dye Transfer
New York City (boys dancing)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
This 14 x 11 inch gelatin silver print was printed in the 1980s, and is signed on verso. Helen Levitt was a true master of the street, one whose poetic vision, humor, and inventiven...
Silver Gelatin
James Agee, King Street apartment
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
This is a vintage silver gelatin print, from the James Agee Family Collection. Levitt and Agee were close friends, and over the years Levitt gifted a number...
Silver Gelatin
James Agee
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
This is a mounted vintage silver gelatin print, from the James Agee Family Collection. Levitt and Agee were close friends, and over the years Levitt gifted ...
Silver Gelatin
N.Y.C. (5₵ Soda)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
Helen Levitt made her images of children's chalk drawings early in her career. The prints she produced were traditionally small in scale. In 2000, she and our gallery launched a proj...
Silver Gelatin
N.Y.C. (Button to Secret Passage)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
Helen Levitt made her images of children's chalk drawings early in her career. The prints she produced were traditionally small in scale. In 2000, she and our gallery launched a proj...
Silver Gelatin
Poster Girl, NYC
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
Helen Levitt was a true master of the street, one whose poetic vision, humor, and inventiveness transformed the gritty world of New York City’s poorer neighborhoods into captivating,...
Silver Gelatin
New York (rolling record)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
14 x 11 inch gelatin silver print, signed by the artist on verso. 10.75 x 7.5 inch image size Helen Levitt was a true master of the street, one whose poetic vision, humor, and inven...
Silver Gelatin
New York City (cops and robbers)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
Helen Levitt was a true master of the street, one whose poetic vision, humor, and inventiveness transformed the gritty world of New York City’s poorer neighborhoods into captivating,...
Silver Gelatin
New York City (woman reaching out)
By Helen Levitt
Located in New York, NY
11 x 14 inch gelatin silver print (image size 5.6 x 8.25 inches) Signed on verso. Helen Levitt was a true master of the street, one whose poetic vision, humor, and inventiveness ...
Silver Gelatin