Helen Levitt

Wow! I have recently purchased a book of photographs by Helen Levitt with her name as the title after discovering some of her work on the Internet. I came across a few of her photographs at http://www.lensculture.com/levitt.html accessed on 11 August 2012. As you might be able to tell (from the first word in this post) I was quite inspired by the work on the Interenet and later in the book. It encapsulated everything I had been working on in this part of the course, even though I kind of wish I had come across her work for 'People Unaware' where it would have been a bit more relavent perhaps. This was because her work was based around street photography with less emphasis on buildings.

   I found her work inspiring because of the vibrancy throughout - not only aesthetically (especially the colours) but also in  meaning; with wonderful humour prevalent and the essence of the streets of New York, where the photographs were taken, captured beautifully in my opinion.

   I would say Helen Levitt's work has come at a timely moment to inspire me as I start preparing for the fourth assignment. There will be lots of colour at the place I am planning to photograph at, which was a major feature and strength for me of her work. I thought also the composition, including the size the people took up in the frame, was something I could learn from as it sometimes helped to suggest a sense of place.