Biography
Helen Levitt was a photographer known for her street photography of New York City. Her career began by working for a commercial portrait photographer in the Bronx, where she learned all the technical processes of film photography. In the late 1930s, the transitory street chalk art that people made in the city drew her away from the photography studio and towards the streets, where she photographed the chalk art and the people that made it. Her work with color photography in the early 1960s also received a lot of praise, and she continued to hold shows at institutions like the MoMA and the Guggenheim in New York City until the late 1970s. Levitt lived in New York City and remained active as a photographer for nearly 70 years. However, she expressed lament at the change of New York City scenery: "I go where there's a lot of activity. Children used to be outside. Now the streets are empty. People are indoors looking at television or something."