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June 25, 2010
I don't know much about the street photography of Leon Levinstein. He is now recognized as part of the canon of 1960s street photographers, which includes names like Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand and Robert Frank.
He photographed hookers, housewives, businessmen, cross-dressers, and the permanently down-and-out in a very raw style between the early nineteen-fifties until a few years before his death, in 1988.
Leon Levinstein, Young Man Fixing Hair in Window, New York City, 1970s
His work reminds me of the photographs of Lisette Model in that it is sneaky, direct and uncompromising.
Leon Levinstein, Woman Wearing Paper Bag Hat, Coney Island, New York, 1950s
It would be hard to photograph like this today given the greater hostility to photographers taking photos of people.
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