Helen Levitt

The Winterthur Museum of Photography is dedicating a comprehensive retrospective to photographer Helen Levitt, presenting for the first time works from her archive, which has recently been made available to the public.

Helen Levitt (1913–2009) is one of the defining voices of 20th-century American photography. Born in Brooklyn, she found her primary subject matter in the streets of New York. Beginning in the 1930s, she observed urban life in Harlem and on the Lower East Side in all its spontaneity, poetry, and irony. Children and their chalk drawings, left on walls and sidewalks, became recurring subjects in her work.

Levitt was a member of the Photo League, worked with Walker Evans, and was influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson. She is considered one of the early pioneers of color photography. Her work as a filmmaker and editor—including with Luis Buñuel—sharpened her sense of rhythm and storytelling.

More than 200 photographs spanning half a century, the short documentary film *In the Street* (1948), a projection of color slides, and approximately 115 pieces of ephemera and archival materials offer insight into the breadth of her photographic work.

The traveling exhibition is a collaboration with Fundación Mapfre and was curated by Joshua Chuang. International venues include Fundación Mapfre in Barcelona and Madrid, the Kunsthal Rotterdam, and C/O Berlin.

Contributors and additional information:

Helen Levitt