“Weegee”

• Arthur Fellig (1899-1968)• First photographer to have police radio in his

car• Known for photos of violent crimes, onlookers• Freelance photographer for NY newspapers in

the 1930s and 40s

• Worked between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

• Camera was a 4x5 speed graphic– Preset at 1/200 at f/16– Took all his photos at this

setting with a flash

• Worked out of his car– Kept portable

darkroom, – extra equipment, – change of clothes,

etc. in his trunk

1942, Weegee used the trunk of his car as a darkroom

An enthusiastic promoter of his own legend (he billed himself as “Weegee the Famous” and “the World’s Greatest Photographer”), Weegee claimed his elbow itched when news was about to happen. Co-workers gave him his name after the rage of the time, the ouija board. His prescience was aided by the police and fire department shortwave radios he installed near his bed.

• Publication of book of photos titled, The Naked City, in 1945 made him famous

Murder in Hell's Kitchen. / Weegee (Arthur Fellig))

Late on the night of Feb. 2, Andrew Izzo and accomplices tried to hold up the Spring Arrow Social & Athletic Club, near Bowery. Shot by an off-duty cop, Izzo staggered toward Elizabeth and fell dead on his face, his gun skittering across the sidewalk.

Weegee (Arthur Fellig)Ride Victim

c. 1940

Weegee (Arthur Fellig)Accident Victim in Shock

n.d

In this classic Weegee image, sixteen-year old Frank Pape sits in a "pie wagon," accused of strangling a four-year old boy.

1944

Their First Murder. / Weegee (Arthur Fellig)

"A woman relative cried...but neighborhood dead-end kids enjoyed the show when a small-time racketeer was shot and killed," wrote Weegee in the caption accompanying this startling photograph in his 1945 publication Naked City.

A dramatic nighttime fire at a New York City kitchen products factory provided Weegee with an opportunity to exhibit some wry humor. Just below where the water cannons douse the fire, and almost centered in the frame, a sign reads "SIMPLY ADD BOILING WATER.”

In Top Hats - In Trouble, Charles Sodokoff, 28, and Arthur Webber, 32, both Broklynites, use their toppled toppers to hide faces as they take free ride to Felony Court. Boys were tippling at Astor Bar Saturday night when they decided to slide down banisters for fun (???). Cop was called and they assaulted him. Funsters then went from mahogany bar to iron type. New York Daily News Photo

Sammy's was the scene of many of Weegee's most lighthearted and humanistic photographs, a great contrast to what was taking place on the street or curb or just outside the front door. The "poor man's Stork Club" became a refuge for Weegee, a safe haven allowing him to escape the blood and guts that his more salable photographs contained. Entertainers at Sammy's-on-the-Bowery, 1944-45.

New Year's Eve at Sammy's-on -the-Bowery, 1943.

The Critic, November 22, 1943, first published in LIFE, December 6, 1943

The Critic, 1943Mrs Cavanaugh and friend entering the opera.

At a time of racial tension in many parts of the United States, Weegee's photographs showed an unusual sensitivity in their portrayal of minorities. Here, an African-American man in his best suit is surrounded by other churchgoers on Easter Sunday, 1940.

“I spotted this happy man coming out of the church ... he told me that he was a clothing salesman ... and that every Easter Sunday he puts on his full dress suit.”

--Weegee from Naked City (1945)

With a song in my heart, c. 1948

Easter Sunday in Harlem, April 26, 1943

Tenement fire, Harlem, 1942Mother and daughter looking up at the top floor, where another daughter and her baby are trapped.

January 16, 1941. Gunman doesn't want his picture taken. Police today permitted photographers in the line-up room at headquarters. The subject was Anthony Esposito, under indictment with his brother William for the murder of a businessman and a policeman in Tuesday's tragic Battle of Fifth Ave. The detectives, manacled to Esposito, didn't want their names or pictures in the papers. They obliged by turning around, holding the gunman by head and arm so he couldn't duck. The yardstick is on the line-up platform where Esposito had stood, refusing to answer questions.

"He looked like a stubborn surly, snarling animal," Weegee reported. "He stumbled and sagged over to one side, like a drunk."

-- published in Weegee's WorldWeegee (Arthur Fellig)

Transvestite in a police van, 1941.

Ambulance, 1943-44.

Tenement fire, 1945.

Arrested for bribing basketball players, 1942.

A Burglar is Caught by Detectives in a Window of a Store

Weegee (Arthur Fellig) New York City, February 17, 1941