New York 1972

Helen Levitt made this photograph, titled New York. Snapshots of city life are her thing. What was it like to be Levitt roaming the streets, searching, seeing? She must have been quick, seeing the kids, framing them, firing the shutter. The boy on the right blows a bubble as he holds a cigarette in his mouth. The boy on the left looks on with a face smudged with dirt. It’s the kind of shot that could be gritty, documentary, but there’s also a sweetness to it, a playfulness. The green hues are vibrant, the colour makes it feel warm. Her work is like that, documentary but full of something more elusive. She wasn't alone in her pursuits, think of Lisette Model’s gritty New York street photography. Artists see each other, are constantly in conversation across generations, borrowing, responding, finding something new.