Helen Levitt: In The Street – Photographers’ Gallery, London (LAST CHANCE TO SEE)

A review of Helen Levitt: In the Street, a retrospective at the Photographers Gallery in London. A record of a childhood that is now increasingly rare, especially with the effects of the pandemic.

Helen Levitt: In the Street

I didn’t think I knew the work of Helen Levitt, but there were definitely a couple of iconic images I recognised once I was in the exhibition. This retrospective at the Photographers’ Gallery spans about five decades of the American photographer’s career. This isn’t their first exhibition of her photographs; the Photographers’ Gallery are proud to have a strong tradition of showing Helen Levitt’s work. The difference, I believe, is that this time they are aiming for a full retrospective. Whether or not this was successful we will decide together by the end of this post.

To tell you a little more about Helen Levitt first of all, she was born in Brooklyn in 1913. She began to take photographs aged 18, and worked for a commercial photographer (which meant she learned how to develop photographs as well). Through studies with the Manhattan Film and Photography League she discovered French street photographers, and even met Henri Cartier-Bresson. He apparently encouraged her to adopt a more personal rather than journalistic style.

Levitt is probably most famous for her street photography in New York City. She also took Surrealist-inspired photographs, experimented with colour photography, and was an avant-garde filmmaker. The Photographers’ Gallery exhibition, which is over 2 floors, displays examples of all of these strings to her bow.

[Children] In the Streets

I love mid-century street photography. Or actually any and all street photography. Aside from striking compositions and the well-timed capturing of a moment, there is such a lot of information to glean about how people live or have lived. Helen Levitt took a lot of images of children and the games they played on the streets of New York; and I found myself pondering this as I walked around.

There is often something a little poignant about images of childhood. Or is that just me? Something about a half-remembered innocence, long days stretching out, unbridled imagination. What Levitt has captured, however, is a type of childhood that is rarer than it once was. Particularly in the last few years, I can’t imagine many children have had the freedom to spend hours together, playing out of the sight of their parents. We can see through her work how rich this imaginative life can be. But at the same time, how it sometimes leads children into scrapes. Either way, it’s rather charming.

A fairly high percentage of the works on view are these images of childhood. Surrealist leanings are represented by photographs of graffiti, also found on New York’s streets. Like Vivian Maier and others, Levitt also had an eye for a humorous moment, and alternated between photographing surreptitiously to catch subject off guard, or interacting with them: holding their gaze with her camera’s lens.

Final Thoughts

If you have time to spend getting up close to the images, you could spend hours here gazing at the streets of New York (and further afield). It’s a very engaging exhibition. Whether it’s truly a retrospective, I have yet to be convinced. The selection is very heavily weighted towards photographs from the 1940s, followed by the 1970s. So there are interesting works on film and a slideshow of colour photography, but also gaps in Levitt’s career that seem to be less represented. Perhaps this speaks to the curators’ preferences within her archive?

If you’re like me and hate shopping, then may I suggest a visit to the Photographers’ Gallery as a much better use of time on or around Oxford Street? There are currently other exhibitions on besides Helen Levitt: In the Street; but I found this to be a great introduction to an important street photographer I wasn’t previously very familiar with. And a little window into other times and places, and other lives. After all this is the value and the magic of the photographer’s eye for finding moments and framing them for us to enjoy.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

Helen Levitt: In the Street on until 13 February 2022

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