Helen Levitt (American, 1913- ), born in New York City, began her career in photography at age 18 while working in a portrait studio in the Bronx. It is there she acquired technical prowess but the inspiration to make images came through a consumption of art and photography exhibits, theater performances and films. While other photographers of the 1930s were documenting social injustice around the country and the world, Levitt chose to devote a long career to a place and people just blocks away: the children of the New York neighborhoods. Her photographs reveal the subtle expressions and gestures of adults engaged in conversation and children at play in curious and imaginative ways. Levitt is often referred to as "one of the great living poets of urban life." Her photographs are collected by most major museums world wide and she continues to live and work in New York.