Task 4
Weegee
Prince of the Night
Born in 1899 under the name of Ushier Rellig in his native
land the Ukraine, his family immigrated to the “Big Apple” (New York City) at
the tender age of eleven. Were he was given the name Arthur. Growing up he
passed thought many types of occupations, but finally settled as a darkroom
assistant (Squeegee boy) at Acme Newspictures. At thirty six he chose to leave
in order to go out and make a name for himself as a tabloid photographer.
Choosing the night as his canvas making for little competition, photography
speaking, as after all, there is no “engraving with light” associated with the
night time world at the time. New York was a tough town during the depression
years when he made the night his domain. He called his subject “The Naked City”
exploring and exposing the meanest the streets had to offer. Often depicting
the city as a seething and chaotic place filled with violence. This brutal
realism in his work, at the time, made him one of the most inventive figures in
America.
“Many photographers
live in a dream world of beautiful backgrounds. It wouldn’t hurt them to get a
taste of realty to wake them up.”
He chose the name Weegee, as in the Ouija board, for having
the uncanny ability to come across the diseased souls and there onlookers.
Using a flashbulb to illuminate the night. He developed his film in the trunk of
his 1938 Chevy. This gave a whole new meaning to the word “Hot of the Press”,
as he could make instant his film printable from his make shift darkroom at any
location. He could get his images to the papers faster than most this way making
his a truly fascinating, if not efficient, freelance photojournalist.
This is an image of his make shift office / darkroom as he
works.
To make it so he could capture his subject, he would monitor
the police band shortwave radio, often he would beat the cops to the scene, to
capture the gawker and all the gory details. Live in the shadows of the city he
would dive around the more shady parts of town looking for his next scoop. I
think being a man gave him the power to be the photographer he was, as a woman
at the time he wouldn’t have been taken seriously in the eyes of society.
Meaning his work may have not been published and making work hard to come by.
Not to mention the danger of being a woman in night life community. I must say
he has more guts than me for the amazing work he did. I feel that his work
influenced how violence and disorder are publicized today. It has become such a
normal thing to hear and read about that I feel we take are peaceful life for
granted. Whereas at Weegee’s time in sure his images had more of a shocking
impacted as such things where not captured in the way he did it. Some of his
images where too graphic too print. He highlighted the danger of the glamorous
city, from its urban life to its drunken, homeless or dead night time
occupants. Weegee would often say “murder is my business” if one was to
ask him why he did it.
“He will take his
camera and ride off in search of new evidence that his city, even in her most
drunken and disorderly and pathetic moments, is beautiful.”
-William McClerry
in ‘Naked City’
Listening to an interview of him I found out that he was
true perfectionist often taking up two years to find the perfect shot to
emphasise his outlook on city life. I learned from observing his work and reading
about him that whenever you come across a situation sometimes it's best to
point the camera in the other direction, in order to capture the expressions of
the people around you. It's not always about the situation at hand but also the
people that it's affecting. I like how he captures that sometimes in his work
often taking photos from interesting and unique perspectives in order to get
the most out of the scene.
I really like his work he captures the dark side to life
that has always fascinated me, as its mysterious nature helped shroud all evil
doings in its embrace. There is fun nightlife filled with drink and laughter.
Then the violence and murder that hides away from our view. I like how he has
captured this unseen truth that there is always two sides to two sides to the
life that we live.
It's not all doom and gloom though he is a freelance
photographer he was also hired to capture events that didn't always depict
someone's untimely end or tragic car accident for example:
Coney Island at Noon, Saturday the 5th of
July, 1952
This image was not the intention when he went to the
beach that day. He was simply hired to capture images of a relaxing beach.
Later that day this colossal amount a people show up and being the opportunist he
captured the sceptical. I how the image was taken from I higher point and down
word angle. The spectator in the foreground awareness of the camera is funny
because it’s like he’s taking the photo from a stage and the crowd are cheering
for more. After an interesting life in
capturing life’s uglier side he died in 1968.
Article: Weegee’s World
By: Clavdia Glenn Dowling
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