Hipsters, Hustlers and Handball Players: Leon Levinstein's New York Photographs September 11, 2010

A master of classic American street photography, Leon Levinstein (American, 1910-1988) is best known for his candid and unsentimental black-and-white figure studies made in New York City neighborhoods from Times Square and the Lower East Side to Coney Island. This exhibition, drawn exclusively from the Metropolitan's collection, will feature some 45 photographs that reflect Levinstein's fearless approach to the medium. Levinstein's graphic virtuosity - seen in raw, expressive gestures and seemingly monumental bodies - is balanced by an unusual compassion for his off-beat subjects from the demimonde.