Henri Leighton (born Levi; June 30, 1917 – May 21, 2004) was an American photographer and technical writer on photography, noted for his mid-century pictures of African-American children playing in city streets. In his fifties he abandoned photography for a later career, teaching himself jewellery,The Central New Jersey Home News, 21 Nov 1976, p.60 which he sold commercially.
Early life and education Henri Leighton was born in 1917 in Memphis,World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 son of Theo Levi, a merchant and son of German immigrants; and Janet Shuster Levi. 1910 United States Federal Census He received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Mississippi in 1938.'Annual craft show opens in Hunterdon,' Bernardsville News (Bernardsville, New Jersey) Thursday 03 Nov 1977, p.55 He served as a cryptographer in the Army Air Force during World War II.
Photographer and writer Leighton's photographs show a consistent interest in childhood and closeness, and in the street photography genre in which he practiced he also shot night scenes and radically motion-blurred images of the hectic Times Square precinct. He used an early example of single-lens reflex camera, the 35 mm format Exakta, and the Contax 35mm rangefinder.
Leighton wrote for a number of publications on technical aspects of photographyHenri Leighton, 'Motion'. In Exakta: The Magazine for Exakta Photographers, Volume 1, Number 2, 1950, Exakta Camera Company and Wolf WirginThe American Annual of Photography, Volume 66, p.50, Tennant and Ward, 1952 Recognition The now best-known of Leighton's street photographs was selected by Edward Steichen for The Museum of Modern Art 1955 world-touring exhibition The Family of Man seen by 9 million visitors. The picture was made in the year leading up to the Supreme Court (May 17, 1954) decision in Brown vs. Board of Education that abolished racial segregation in American schools. It shows two boys, one who is black with his arm over the shoulders of his companion who is white, walking in step past run-down shops. The taller boy delicately clasps a baseball card in his left hand, as if having just shown it to his friend. They are observed by an old white man sitting idly on a shop step clasping his walking-stick while another has his back turned to look at a cafe menu.
The image is among a number of non-stereotypical images of black Americans at work and play in The Family of Man which curator Steichen chose to challenge and subvert racial stereotypes and demystify mainstream discourses on social and ethnic relations.Borgersen, T. (2015). «The Family of Man»-Fortidens filantropi og nåtidens minnesmerke. Kunst og Kultur, 98(04), 194-205. The image has been used in several texts as a teaching resource,Development Through Art (Firm), & Krannert Art Museum. (1996). Visual Thinking Strategies: Introduction : learning to look. Champaign, Ill.: Krannert Art Museum. and in psychology publicationsBjerstedt, Å. (1958). Reduction of 'barrier tendencies' during experience of international co-living: Psychological control studies of certain aspects in the CISV socio-educational approach. In Acta psychologica, 14, 329-346.Nordisk psykologi, p.166, Volume 10, 1958. Contributors: Dansk psykologforening, Suomen psykologinen seura, Norsk psykologforening, Sveriges psykologförbund Publisher Munksgaards Leighton's photographs also illustrated Frederick E. Robin & Selma G. Hirsh's The Pursuit of Equality: A Half Century with the American Jewish Committee (Crown Publishers, New York, 1957)Oakland Tribune, Sunday 13 Oct 1957, p.101
Several such Leighton photographs of black Americans were represented in a Middlebury College Museum of Art exhibition Many Thousand Gone: Portraits of the African-American Experience May 22–August 9, 2015, co-curated by Middlebury Associate Professor of History William Hart and the students in his Spring 2015 African-American History course.Press release for Middlebury College Museum of Art exhibition Many Thousand Gone: Portraits of the African-American Experience May 22–August 9, 2015
Craftsman A self-taught craftsman, from the late 1960s, Leighton, and his wife Paula Gollhardt-Leighton, made and marketed their jewellery,advertisement, The Courier-News (Bridgewater, New Jersey) Sunday 24 Jan 1988, p.49 and her fashion designs, from a shop in New York City, before owning and operating the “Beautiful Things Factory” shop in Scotch Plains, N.J. from 1973 'Makes Jewellery,' The Times, (Scotch Plains-Fanwood) Volume 17, No, 31 Thursday, August, 5, 1976, p.1Echoes-Sentinel (Warren Township, New Jersey) Thursday 09 Dec 1976, p.52 They exhibited together at the Vitti Artisans Gallery, and in major galleries including the Museum of Contemporary Craft, the Fairtree Gallery, St. Paul Art Center, the Corcoran Gallery, the Morris Museum, Hunterdon Art Centre, Montclair Art Museum, Newark Museum,The Herald-News (Passaic, New Jersey), Monday 22 Nov 1976, p.13The Central New Jersey Home News (New Brunswick, New Jersey) Sunday 28 Nov 1976, p.61 and Boston City Hall.'Husband-wife show at Vitti Gallery', The Montclair Times Thursday 22 Jan 1976, p.16 Leighton sold the store 'Beautiful Things' upon Paula's death in 1992, and it was operated by Nell and Austin Goodwin until 2006.Amy O'Brien, '"Beautiful Things" to Close; WF Couple Ran Store for 14 Yrs,' The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times, Thursday, February 2, 2006, p.10
Personal life Leighton was resident of Vicksburg, New York City, and Summit, N.J. He moved to Plainfield in 1984, where he died at 86 years old on Friday, May 21, 2004, at his home, and was buried as Henri Levi. He was survived by a brother, Ted Levi.
Collections Henri Leighton's works in the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Henri Leighton on the MoMA website Henri Leighton photographs at Middlebury College Museum of Art
Awards
1985: Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
References