Weegee - Photographer

[fermentor666]

I'd never heard of him until I got a book on him this Christmas. Basically, he immigrated from Austria as a child struggled his way to a job at the NY Times as a darkroom assistant in 1921 where he began his career that took him from tabloid photography to world famous photographer. At first his speciality was cover the crime scene and fires, after removing himself from the newspaper business he began to focus more on life in the city. His technique's and shots are incredible and sadly, the qualitiy of the images on the internet does not do him justice. I recommend checking him out next time you're at a bookstore.

Born Usher Fellig in 1899, Weegee got his nickname from the popular 1930's boardgame "Ouiga" when the cops noticed that he would often get to the crime scene before they did. Weege died in 1968 and left behind over 13,000 prints and negatives.


I hope these hotlinks stay visible.

http://www.amber-online.com/visuals/weegee_revisited.jpg

http://www.mcah.columbia.edu/dbcourses/buchloh/large/weegee_tenement_120502.jpg

http://www.fotorevista.com.ar/Maestros/Weegee/weegee_ride_victim.jpg

http://www.fotorevista.com.ar/Maestros/Weegee/weegee_sammys.jpg

http://www.fotorevista.com.ar/Maestros/Weegee/weegee_booked.jpg

http://www.fotorevista.com.ar/Maestros/Weegee/weegee_critic.jpg

http://www.catpress.com/fotorepo/fotfot/weegee.jpg

http://www.drmenlo.com/imagio/photography/weegee_hells_kitchen2.jpg

http://www.moma.org/collection/depts/photography/images/large/352_81_weegee_harry.jpg

[GamblersGrin]

he is my favorite photographer. ive got a super thick hardcover book of his stuff but being under teh influence i can not recall the name. its a yellow cover though.

[fermentor666]

This picture looks unbelievable in the book but it looks like shit on the internet:

http://www.hiandlomodern.com/IMAGES/BOOKS/weegeespeopleendpapers.jpg

The man himself:

http://www.chyangwa.com/camerist/WEEGEE/wg7-33.jpg

http://www.keithryan.com/Images/weegee.jpg

Woman after killing a man in a car accident:

http://www.cpw.org/AuctionCat_2003/lotimages_2003/fullsize/183.jpg

http://www.utexas.edu/coc/journalism/SOURCE/J349T/read/looking/weege01.jpg

"Their First Murder"

"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. On the facing page Weegee showed the bloody body lying in the street.

Alternately laughing, staring in disbelief, or looking into the camera to grasp their own momentary chance to be recorded, the children who had witnessed this grisly scene form an unsettling amalgam of human emotion and self-absorption as they commune with the camera in the face of horror. Two women are among the group: one, whom Weegee mentioned above, stands at the center, her face contorted with anguished tears, her personal loss turned into public spectacle."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20020308/felig08.jpg

[MANOWAR]

coolness

[High Priest]

Im really not into photography, but i do enjoy his work quite a bit. The use of distortion, esp. during that time and on the subject matter that he chose to work with really struck a chord with me .. go figure.

http://www.icp.org/weegee/images/wg7-83.jpg
http://www.icp.org/weegee/images/marilyn.jpg

[dear sas]

first time iv seen his stuff. i like it. ill look into that book

[fermentor666]

Nice priest, I was trying to find some of his distortion stuff but couldn't find any good pictures on google. The last Marilyn Monroe one reminds me off the nasty plastic surgery lady Poop Man Bob posted a couple of months back.


(please no one post her in here)

[imported_some pittsburgh flavor]

Originally posted by GamblersGrin@Dec 28 2004, 03:42 AM
he is my favorite photographer. ive got a super thick hardcover book of his stuff but being under teh influence i can not recall the name. its a yellow cover though.
Quoted post


"Photographs From an NYC Taxi Driver"??
that's good regardless

i forget who it is though

shit is ill

[GamblersGrin]

the book is called "weegee's world"

[BROWNer]

dopeness. i did a thread on the dude long time ago, my fave is the photo naked city used for one of their covers(a guy lying face first on a stone cobble road, blood everywhere and a handgun a few feet away).

[Overtime]

yeah, thats awesome stuff...

[Chance Em Redy]

Interesting.

[kidlogyk86]

yeah. i picked up weegee's people a while back...never heard of the guy b/f. pretty nice stuff. they have a good, real quality. i got some great abstractions from face close-ups.