"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera." - Dorothea Lange

Saturday, October 03, 2009

in the street

You probably already know that Helen Levitt is one of my favorite photographers and that she has been a great inspiration to me over the years. If you read this blog regularly, then you may remember my postings about visiting Helen at her apartment in New York this time last year (and, as a it turned out, a few months before she "kicked off.") Those posts can be found here, here. here, here and here.

At any rate, Levitt is included in the exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins Museum "Hide and Seek: Picturing Childhood." Rather than show you more of her still photography, I thought it would be cool to turn you onto a film she made in the 1940's with Janice Loeb and James Agee. Contemporary photographer Amy Stein referred to this as "SIMPLY ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PIECES OF POETRY EVER PUT TO FILM."

It is in two parts. When you have ten quiet minutes, get lost in this remarkable footage shot by one of the masters of 20th century photography.

(For best viewing, click on You Tube in the lower right corner. That will take you directly to You Tube, where you'll get a full screen and better resolution.)



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