by Helen LevittMan, I wish kids still played like this. There's a house down the street where, on summer afternoons, there are almost always a group of kids in the front yard playing some sort of made up game. A couple parents sit on the front stoop while the kids run around in terrific goofball style. It always makes me smile as I pass them on my way home from work. Unfortunately, it is by far the exception.
Helen Levitt was a photographer who lived in New York and made some incredible photographs of life in that city. Children were not her only subject but they may be my favorite of hers. She photographed mainly in poor neighborhoods but pity was not her motivation. She doesn't show her subjects as downtrodden and hopeless, but rather as overcoming and living in spite of their environment. Her children are often seen in truly filthy conditions, but they're too engrossed in their play to notice such trivial details. Her kids are not cute, or precious, or merely happy. They are mischievous, wild, and exuberant. The Kings of their domain. I am glad to be reminded of this more uncivilized side of children.
Helen Levitt was a photographer who lived in New York and made some incredible photographs of life in that city. Children were not her only subject but they may be my favorite of hers. She photographed mainly in poor neighborhoods but pity was not her motivation. She doesn't show her subjects as downtrodden and hopeless, but rather as overcoming and living in spite of their environment. Her children are often seen in truly filthy conditions, but they're too engrossed in their play to notice such trivial details. Her kids are not cute, or precious, or merely happy. They are mischievous, wild, and exuberant. The Kings of their domain. I am glad to be reminded of this more uncivilized side of children.
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