Helen Levitt Photographs

Helen Levitt was born August 31, 1913, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—died March 29, 2009, New York City) U.S. photographer. She began her career in photography at age 18. Levitt's photographs captured the streets of New York. Her first show, “Photographs of Children,” was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1943. It featured the subject matter—children, especially the underprivileged—and humanity that characterize much of her work. (Above are two photographs taken by Levitt)

HW: Eggleton vs Levitt

After looking at Helen Levitt's photos I couldn't help but notice that she and Eggleston's photos have similarities. Even though Levitt's images include more peple, all the people have blank faces just like Eggleston's. Photos of antique cars, random places, and catching people off guard, or not looking at all, are all characteristics of these two photographer's images. Levitt's photos are primarily in black and white, so it puts a older time period on them, and you get to focus more on the subjects that appear darker.

HW: Eggleton vs Brown-Carter Photos

These two images remind me of Eggleston's pictures because I felt like Eggleston was on a journey. Eggleston takes readers' on this journey of places he use to visit when growing up. I also feel like each picture in his guide is connected to a picture either before or after it. Above, I have two pictures. The first picture captures people walking down a hallway (this is the journey), and the second shows two doors. This illustrates the ending of a journey. I feel like there's always two paths going in different directions, at the end of each journey, and here it is!

What does S. write about the art of photography in general?

* Photography is a system of visual editing... At bottom, it is a matter of surrounding with a frame a portion of one's cone of vision, while standing in the right place at the right time. (page 6)

* The choice is based on tradition and intuition-knowledge and ego-as it is in any art, but the ease of execution and the richness of possibilities in photography both serve to put a premium on good intuition. (page 6)

* The goal is not to make something factually impeccable, but seamlessly persuasive. (page 7)