A black-and-white photograph of a joyful child laughing while playing on the street. The child is sitting in a stroller, with an adult partially visible in the background, leaning over the pram. The image captures the spontaneity and carefree nature of childhood, typical of Helen Levitt's street photography, focusing on urban scenes in New York. The child's infectious laughter and the intimate, candid moment evoke a sense of innocence and playful energy, embodying Levitt's ability to convey emotion and universal human experiences through everyday moments.

Helen Levitt
New York, c. 1942
Gelatin Silver Print
© Film Documents LLC, courtesy Zander Galerie, Cologne

Helen Levitt

From 24 September to 1 February 2026

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Discover the exhibition

This is the first exhibition of Helen Levitt (1913–2009) drawing on her entire oeuvre and archives, which have only recently been made available to the public. The exhibition offers a comprehensive anthology of her career through nine sections and more than 200 photographs. Along with a tour of the main body of her work, it includes unpublished photographs, works created in Mexico in 1941, and a large part of her color work, a technique she began using in the 1950s. In addition, the documentary In the Street (1948), which she co-directed, is presented, along with a projection of her color slides.

Renowned especially for her work in street photography, Levitt deliberately avoided constructing an explicit narrative in her images and always preferred not to explain or comment on them. Far from detracting from her work, this attitude is one of the key aspects that make her artistic production so interesting. Despite this reserve, her photographs manage to establish a deep connection with the audience thanks to their ability to convey universal emotions and the complexity of human existence.

Curator: Joshua Chuang

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Childhood scenes... and enigmatic ones

His photographs of children in the streets of Hispanic Harlem and other poor neighborhoods in New York—where the street clearly takes center stage as the setting for everyday life—occupy a central place in his work and are probably the best known of his production. In them, Levitt transforms everyday scenes into images that captivate us with a certain mysterious appearance: brimming with subversive humor, mischief, and emotion, they are scenes of stark realism that, nevertheless, seem to hide as much as they reveal and invite multiple interpretations.

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A pioneer with her own voice

Starting in 1934, Helen Levitt, along with other figures such as Consuelo Kanaga, Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange, and Tina Modotti, became one of the first women to make a name for themselves in the field of photography, a world traditionally dominated by men. In 1943, she was one of the pioneers to obtain a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which allowed her to devote herself professionally to her work.

Why do you photograph in Harlem?—”There’s more going on there.” Why do you photograph colored children?— “I think they are beautiful.”

Time, march 1943

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Where?

KBr Fundación MAPFRE
Avenida Litoral, 30 – 08005 Barcelona

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Times

Monday (except holidays): Closed
Tuesday to Sunday (and holidays): from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

<strong>Helen Levitt</strong> New York, c. 1939 Gelatin Silver Print © Film Documents LLC, courtesy Zander Galerie, Cologne

<strong>Helen Levitt</strong> New York, c. 1940 Gelatin Silver Print © Film Documents LLC, courtesy Zander Galerie, Cologne

<strong>Helen Levitt</strong> Brooklyn, New York, 1982 Gelatin Silver Print © Film Documents LLC, courtesy Zander Galerie, Cologne

“I decided I should take pictures of working-class people and contribute to […] whatever movements that were socialist, communist […]. And then at one point I saw the photographs of [Henri] Cartier-Bresson, and I realized that photography could be an art. That made me ambitious. […] I was trying to approach making a picture that would stand by itself.”

Helen Levitt