a constant motif of children playing games in her work. She stepped away from the normal practice set by other established photographers at the time of giving a journalistic depiction of suffering. She instead chose to show the world from the perspective of children from taking pictures of their chalk art. She usually positions the camera and styles the photo in a way that gives the focus of her photography power. Her choice to display children playing in the street and explore street photography, fights against what was going on at the time. Legislation being passed in New York at the time was limiting many of the working classes access to these public spaces. Laws were passed that directly targeted these communities in an attempt to control them. New bans on noise targeted working class and minority communities. There was a movement to also try to keep children from playing on the street, believing it is unsafe for them out there. Instead, it encouraged safe new areas that were usually built more in upper and middle class areas. Helen Levitt instead explored the narrative of those who lived in these areas and played in these streets as a way to empower the subjects of her photos. Personal life and death She had to give up making her own prints in the 1990s due to sciatica, which also made standing and carrying her Leica difficult, causing her to switch to a small, automatic Contax. She was born with Ménière's syndrome, an inner-ear disorder that caused her to "[feel] wobbly all [her] life." She also had a near-fatal case of pneumonia in the 1950s. Levitt lived a personal and quiet life. She seldom gave interviews and was generally very introverted. She never married, living alone with her yellow tabby Blinky. Levitt died in her sleep on March 29, 2009, at the age of 95. Exhibitions Solo exhibitions Helen Levitt: Photographs of Children, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1943. Curated by Nancy Newhall. Projects: Helen Levitt in Color, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1974. Street Portrait: The Photographs of Helen Levitt Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1983 Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 1985. A retrospective. The Photographers' Gallery, London, 1988. A retrospective. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1991 then toured nationally 1991–1993. A retrospective. , Spain, 1994 and toured. A retrospective. International Center of Photography, New York, 1997. A retrospective. Centre national