1997 Infinity Award: Master of Photography

Born and raised in New York, Helen Levitt decided to become a professional photographer at age 16. Her photographs are celebrated for their perceptive depiction of everyday life in New York City's close-knit neighborhoods. Her familiarity with the subjects and scenes she photographed imparts a unique candor to her observations. Although her images from the 1940s and '50s are particularly beloved, her later work, which represents a different kind of urban environment, is equally effective.

Levitt was inspired by the photographs of Walker Evans and Henri Cartier-Bresson, both of whom she befriended. Following Cartier-Bresson's lead, she bought a 35-millimeter camera and settled on the subject matter she would pursue for the next 40 years—street life, especially the activities of women, children, and animals.

In 1939, her images began appearing in magazines such as Fortune, U.S. Camera, Minicam, and PM. Beaumont and Nancy Newhall mounted Levitt's first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1943. Three years later, Levitt was granted a photography fellowship by the museum. Her work found devoted advocates in Walker Evans and James Agee, the latter of whom wrote the text for A Way of Seeing, a monograph containing many of her best-known images. In addition to the black-and-white work for which she is known, Levitt has been an active color photography since the 1950s, and her film projects include The Quiet One and In the Street, made with James Agee. Levitt received a Guggenheim Fellowship and was a National Endowment for the Arts Photography Fellow.