Gypsies, New York City, Helen Levitt, 1940.

Lees verder ... Helen Levitt - In the Street 24 October 2008 to 18 January 2009 This autumn, Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam presents a retrospective of work by the famous American street photographer Helen Levitt (b. 1913, New York). Inspired by her mentors and friends Walker Evans and Henri Cartier-Bresson, Levitt recorded life on the streets of 1940s New York in black-and-white photos. Her work set the tone for a new documentary style in American photography. Her photos are visual poems…

All images © Cristina Garcia Rodero http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL53Z0AE

From Phillips, Helen Levitt, New York (baby carriage) (1940s), Gelatin silver print, printed later, 29.2 × 19.4 cm

A woman and two children in a phone booth on a Manhattan sidewalk; bus, car and pedestrian in the background

Helen Levitt’s photographs display her poetic vision and humor. Helen has captured all types of fleeting moments throughout the NYC streets.

By Mike Johnston [Originally published in the American Camera & Darkroom magazine, in 1992.] Recently I’ve been fielding objections from Camera & Darkroom subscribers who feel that the whole enterprise of criticism is despicable and disreputable and—what’s worse, in my...