Flash: The Making of Weegee the Famous

by Christopher Bonanos

The first comprehensive biography of Weegee—photographer, “psychic,” ultimate New Yorker—from Christopher Bonanos, author of The Story of Polaroid.Arthur Fellig’s ability to arrive at a crime scene just as the cops did was so uncanny that he renamed himself “Weegee,” claiming that he functioned as a human Ouija board. Weegee documented better than any other photographer the crime, grit, and complex humanity of midcentury New York City. In Flash, we get a portrait not only of the man (both flawed and deeply talented, with generous appetites for publicity, women, and hot pastrami) but also of the fascinating time and place that he occupied.From self-taught immigrant kid to newshound to art-world darling to latter-day caricature—moving from the dangerous streets of New York City to the celebrity culture of Los Angeles and then to Europe for a quixotic late phase of experimental photography and filmmaking—Weegee lived a life just as worthy of documentation as the scenes he captured. With Flash, we have an unprecedented and ultimately moving view of the man now regarded as an innovator and a pioneer, an artist as well as a newsman, whose photographs are among most powerful images of urban existence ever made.

Genres: Biography, Photography, Nonfiction, History, Art, Biography Memoir, Audiobook

402 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 5, 2018

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who loves film noir, hard boiled detective and crime fiction, and midcentury jazz, it's no surprise I love Weegee's photography, and have for years. I never knew a lot about Weegee (born Usher Felig, Americanized to Arthur Fellig) until now -- and I have to say, what I've learned is pretty disappointing. Weegee was, without question, a classic American type -- a hustler, a dreamer, possessed of serious talent and great instincts. He was also creepy, lecherous, and self-deluded, and it's hard after reading this biography to see him as a great artist instead of simply the right person in the right place at the right moment in history (in spite of Bonanos' argument to the contrary).

So Bonanos hass written a biography of someone you'd never want to meet, and one that reveals very little about his artistic process because there's not that much to reveal. Why read it? Because it's a terrific history of the rise of photojournalism and a compelling love letter to midcentury New York, and an interesting if superficial look at the beginning of schlock cinema. Taken as social and cultural history, instead of biography, it improves dramatically.

[Patrick DiJusto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think of an old-time newspaper photographer of the 1930s through the 1950s. He (it's always a he) has a fedora with a card in the brim, reading PRESS, right?. He wears a rumpled suit and chomps a cigar, right. And he carries a huge bellows Speed-Graphic camera with a giant flash attachment, right?

You've just described Weegee.

Weegee (real name, Arthur Fellig) was the newspaper photographer who took newspaper photography off the front page and into the museums. His uncanny ability to arrive at the scene of a crime before the other photographers (attributed to a vague psychic ability, or the use of a Ouija board -- in reality, he had a police radio installed in his car) gave him an advantage, as did the darkroom in the trunk of his car. His images of gangland murders, arson fires, and slum children were definitely news, but also approached high art. He has been called the Mozart of the camera.

Which is a fitting comparison, since, like Mozart, this brilliant and inspired soul was also a childish, slovenly, rather disgusting man. His clothes were so thoroughly permeated with cigar stink that his presence remained in a room long after he had left. He had no problem "adjusting" or even outright faking some of his news photos. And when his book of photographs, Naked City became a bestseller, his main joy was that he didn't have to pay for sex workers anymore: "Now I got girls who screw for nothin'!"

Fame was his downfall. With the success of his books and his museum exhibitions (and his advancing age), Weegee gave up news photography to focus almost exclusively on "nudie cuties" -- short films of naked women in contrived "nudist resort" settings. Unfortunately, by the late 1960s that market was drying up, and Fellig died broke on Christmas Day 1968.

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

GNab Flash: The Making of Weegee the Famous is an excellent biography of the life and times of Arthur Fellig. Arriving in New York City in 1910 from Eastern Europe, Arthur was one of seven children.
And though he was hungry, frightened, unable to speak English and only ten years old, Arthur (born Usher Felig) was working within days to help support his large family.

Arthur was a go-getter. When the information for the 1910 census was taken 8 months after their arrival in NYC, Arthur was proficient in English, German, Polish and Yiddish. He was bright, ambitious and more importantly, he knew how to hustle to achieve what he wanted. And what he wanted was to become the best news photographer in the world. And that he was able to accomplish. With bells on.

I was especially grateful for all the information included in this biography of the life and mores of NYC during the early to mid-twentieth century. Christopher Bonanos paints an interesting, vital picture of these times, and of Arthur Fellig's place in that world. This is a biography I can happily recommend to friends and family.

I received a free electronic copy of this biography from NETGALLEY, Christopher Bonanos, and Henry Holt and Co in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.
pub date June 5, 2018
Henry Holt and Co.

[Bruce Most · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating portrait of the 1930s and 40s New York City freelance photographer whose stark nighttime photos of murder victims, fires, and auto accidents—and their spectators—brought spot news photographer into the light. It’s also the classic story of a lonely immigrant reinventing himself in an often vain attempt to shed his past and achieve the American dream.

[Lee Woodruff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christopher Bonanos is an excellent reporter and writer and this book is a fascinating look at how we got where are we with the papparazzi and the creation of this celebrity culture from the most famous one ever!

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sad, theatrical, fascinating and hard working schlepper! Enjoyed the biography and learning more about a photographer about whom I know only a little. A very readable and detailed book!

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about Arthur "Weegee" Fellig. He was a creature of the night, running to crime scenes to take photos.The book chronicles Weegee's rise and fall. For any photography buff, I would recommend this book.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written biography of the famous photographer. It also captures a long-gone period of American journalism.

[Cflack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in conjunction with "Weegee Serial Photographer" the graphic memoir by Max De Radigues and Wauter Mannaert and they were fantastic companion pieces.

This fascinating biography is a extremely detailed telling of the life and work of one of the best known 20th century American photographer. Not only did it document practically year by year Weegee's evolution from a child photographing other children on a horse on the lower east side to darkroom technician to credited national photographer to artist, it also told the fascinating story of his relationship with Wilma Wilcox, his on and off girlfriend he met through the Photo League, a group of photographers who worked together on both social causes and creative education.

We see Weegee as a young immigrant breaking free from his family at a young age to go on his own through his climbing the ladder to become a "brand" he created for himself. We see his relationships with newspapers men, police and mobsters and his relentless pursuit of his notoriety.

Bonanos does an excellent job of not only recounting Weegee's life but also emphasizing his differentiators - what made his work different from a compositional and emotional point of view as well as his willingness to give up much of a personal life and creature comforts for his success.

[Adele S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

My star rating’s pretty uncertain on this one, so I’m thinking about changing it.

Biographies aren’t usually my thing. I prefer my nonfiction in the form of essay collections or autobiographies because to me, they better connect with the material because they’ve experienced it firsthand.

But I couldn’t pass up the idea of Weegee, the nighttime press photographer who took inspired photos of my favorite city.

His story was fascinating, wacky, and weird; it’s an amazing look into NYC life from the 30s-60s. His photographs truly are special, especially under the circumstances in which they were taken.

I’m pretty sure Weegee would’ve made me SUPER uncomfortable if I met him in person- his sexism and objectification of women is a lot to unpack. But in other ways, he was ahead of his time in inclusivity. He’s one heck of a complex person.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Bonanos’ writing style. He was far too big a fan of the comma and the parenthetical expression for me, and I almost felt like he was writing about Weegee from afar. I couldn’t connect to Weegee the way I was continuously told I was supposed to. He apparently was rough, yet people were drawn to him. However the writing was too detached for me to feel much towards him at all- in fact, I only felt a small bit of sympathy for him towards the end of the book (his encounter with Andy Warhol made me wince. Watching him slow down was a little heart-wrenching as he got sick).

Overall, this was an incredibly interesting story of a very strange and very talented man, but I’m not sure how much I loved the way it was told.

A big thank you to Henry Holt for sending me a copy of this book to read!

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five Stars.

[Gayla Bassham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so much more than I expected. Weegee was a fascinating character and I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with him for 400 pages. A model of an engaging biography of someone who may no longer be a household name.

[Billie Cotterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography about a very interesting man and time period. I just wish it had more pictures.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting biography of the photographer known as Weegee that also gives a great portrait of New York City in the first part to mid-twentieth century. There are also some interesting connections/names when Weegee goes to Hollywood later in this life - around the 1950s and 1960s. The author clearly appreciates Weegee and yet points out his flaws. Even when information about Weegee conflicts, the author offers his best guess while clearly identifying it as such. For those who don't know, Weegee, whose name was Arthur Fellig, was known for crime scene photography in the first part of the twentieth century. Most of the stereotypes about newspaper photographers such as the crumpled suits and the pushy manner is based on Weegee. As he evolved beyond photographing dead bodies, he also picked up on poignant photographs of loved ones'/people's reactions to tragedies, a trend that has gone way too far since then in the media. As he got older, he moved into experimenting with distorted images which was pretty impressive as it was done without Photoshop or other digital manipulation. This book effectively capture Weegee as the outsider looking in which I suspect may be a common feeling among some photographers. Weegee and his family moved from eastern Europe to New York City when he was just a small child. They lived in terrible overcrowded tenements as Jewish people. I agree with the author that it's rather extraordinary that Weegee got into the photography field, a very new area at the time, and it's impressive how he worked his way up. Because his life was such a struggle, he had little education or interest in the normal social niceties or trappings of life so it's fair to say he had a lot of bad traits. Like most of us, he was a mixture of good and bad except his was blended in an exceptional way. As Weegee stated, "You can't be a nice Nellie and do photography."

[Rhonda Lomazow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arthur Fellig later nicknamed Weegee came to America with his family a true immigrant.Wegee was an unusual character a very talented photographer who had a strange ability to arrive at crime scenes before the cops.There are many iconic Wegee photographs one a picture an overview of bathers at Coneyisland an amazing panoramic photo.A unique original a wonderful intimate look at his unique life story.

[Lisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher. and the author for allowing me to read and review a digital copy of this book. Flash is a well-written and thoughtful biographical work. Admittedly, prior to reading this book, I was not familiar with Weegee the Famous.
As a writer who dabbles into research, I appreciated the vast reading and detail author Christopher Bonanos brought to this book. I can see it as an enjoyable read on its own or a reading choice for arts-based courses.

[Mizloo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly complete biography of a notable photographer. I've had the 2 reprints of Weegee's original books for years. There is something completely unsentimental, yet very moving, about so many of his New York street scenes. The odd character at the center of this story comes through as difficult as he was brilliant and nobody's idea of a gent. Still, like his photos, the bio is both unsentimental and very moving.

[J.D. DeHart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flash is a well-written and thoughtful biographical work. Admittedly, prior to reading this book I was not familiar with Weegee the Famous.

As a writer who dabbles into research, I appreciated the vast reading and detail author Christopher Bonanos brought to this book. I can see it as an enjoyable read on its own or a reading choice for arts-based courses.

Highly recommended!

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well researched, this is an interesting look at a news photographer who helped create news photojournalism. Personally, Weegee was an obnoxious skirt chaser, but professionally, he was a workaholic who used his talents to make remarkable photographs of early and mid 20th century New York.

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my alternate universe life, I'm a photojournalist--so it's not surprising that I loved this book. Bonanos tells Weegee's story with an appreciation for the strength of the work and bemusement mixed with occasional dismay (deserved) at the man himself. A great chronicle of the best of the early street photographers.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

While impressed by Weegee, I was never that into his work. This book brings him and his work into a much more interesting light. His career from portraits with Hypo the donkey, to hard rushing journalism (with not nearly as many standards as exist today), teacher / lecturer, bookmaker, to art distortions and cheesy movie making is fascinating.

[Mark Lamster · Rating 5 out of 5]

super fun and intelligent read on a hilariously brilliant man. like a giant tabloid story come to life.

[SundayAtDusk · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me forever to finish this book. That was definitely not due to readability problems, or lack of interest in photography, but due to only being able to take Mr. Weegee The Famous in small doses. During the 1930s and 1940s, Weegee (aka Arthur Fellig) was at the top of the heap of street photographers in New York City. One reason being he had no life other than taking pictures, particularly at night. He would be tipped off by the police about crimes; later getting a police radio; and go rushing off into the night to scenes of murder and mayhem. Sometimes he just happened to be somewhere right before a great photo opportunity happened. Those who studied odds, however, would probably say no one had a greater chance for that to happen to than a street photographer like Weegee. As it turned out, some of his best shots were staged, too, or at least partly staged, something he never wanted to acknowledge.

One should note, though, Weegee was a working stiff, not a guy with family money who had no worries about paying bills. He also enjoyed the limelight himself, and did not want his reputation as an exceptional photographer to ever diminish or vanish. What other life did he have? None. He used women and had little regard for them, except as objects for ogling, photographing and sex. He was a creepy guy, a voyeur, a guy who had a thing about mannequins. Why not? Mannequins had no feelings to be concerned about, no requests, no demands. They were just objects to be used and posed in photographs. There was one woman named Wilma Wilcox who stuck by him, however, a Quaker social worker, no less. Weegee ended up moving in with her when he got old and sick. Of course. She saved his photos after his death, she saved his legacy. Author Christopher Bonanos gives Ms. Wilcox her due in this book, and gives Weegee The Famous his due, too. Nevertheless, four hundred pages was too much due for Weegee, in my opinion. Two hundred would have sufficed.

(Note: I received a free e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher or author.)

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique Biographical Portrait

An interesting portrait of a artist as anti-artist who lived the life on his subjects and related events, elevating the milieu to in many instances high art. Weegie was without knowing it (or perhaps knowing all along) was helping to shape through his photography a multi-faceted culture of inner city lives and events that would have been lost and/or devoid of honor and integrity if not for his creative mind and humanistic, earthen soul. In his later years when he diverged across many different visual and cultural domains, we see the essence of an iconoclast and an original who manipulated and was manipulated by the shifting of the times that define the present for better or worse while relegating the past as both a bygone era and forcing one to realize that they are no longer relevant and thus forgotten, despite efforts and energies to the contrary.

Weegie was a complex man made up of a broken mosaic held loosely together by a single personal dynamic to visualize and record lives and a world that reflected an equally broken mosaic loosely held together by the tumult of humanity.

[Don Gorman · Rating 2 out of 5]

(1 1/2). Sometimes it is a fine line between a one and two star book. This is one of those occasions. The writing in this book is fairly methodical, kind of a journal of events with some facts and situations embellished to make it more readable. The subject of the book, however, is very interesting. An early photojournalist sort who takes on a character of his own. "Weegee" is quite the guy and his struggle to survive in the start of his career makes for the most intriguing part (to me) of this book. His later exploits when he becomes more recognized and successful are fun, but the presentation feels very dry. I really would have liked to seen more examples of his work, there are not enough plates here. Not what I was looking for.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weegee, a striving Eastern European immigrant was a type well known in the 1900's-1940's NYC.
He happened upon photography by accident or fate and road that pony for all it was worth. He is more appreciated in modern times as an artist and inventor of photographic methods than he was at the time. During his lifetime he became a caricature of himself.

This is a well researched biography and the reader can feel the respect Mr. Bonanos had for his subect.
It is well worth reading for anyone interested in Weegee, the infancy of news photography and/or depression era NYC. I learned much listening to this book and will not soon forget Weegee who was a very complex character.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting life with a sleazy main character hyper-focused on fame by means of shock and awe. Talented in the way he thrived on limitations, though it was clear he never really fancied himself as an artist. I was disappointed that it didn’t get into the power of propaganda and how images can alter public perception. Instead, the focus is on how much people obviously enjoyed the tabloid-like aspect of his imagery without diving into the ramifications.

MS: Kubrick hires Weegee to take stills of his Dr. Strangelove production because of his unique ability to create stark images with a flash camera.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography of "Weegee," the famous (by his own account) photographer is a fast-moving biography of a man at the right time. An immigrant, Arthur (his real name), fell into photography and soon took the opportunity to fill the many New York newspapers with pictures of murders, robberies, and fires. This is a good look at a by-gone era when there were lots of newspapers (morning and afternoon editions!) vying for readership. It also examines how Weegee (his ability to be at the right place at the right time was like a Ouija board), created himself.

[Georgia · Rating 3 out of 5]

had this on the shelf for a couple of years, and felt the urge to dive in after watching Blonde, a movie driven by a rubber neck compulsion towards images, and the idea that the discharge of a flash bulb is in itself a fatal entropy. loved learning about the stock, trade, and puckish grift of one of my favourite photographers, a tawdry outlier whose orbit illuminates not just the birth of photojournalism, but a receding afterimage of New York, as much a chronicler and philosopher of Gotham as Edith Wharton.

[Ralph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weegee, as he was best known, certainly had a varied life as a photographer. His career ranged from documenting gangster murders, car crashes, and fires, developing innovative photo techniques, being a huckster for photography equipment, being an “actor”, to promoting so-called “nudie” films.

You might appreciate the telling of a self-promoting individual who represents a unique approach to life.