Weegee's People

by Weegee (Photographer), Arthur Fellig

Arthur Fellig (1899-1968), better known as Weegee, was an Austrian immigrant who worked as a freelance news photographer in New York City. Beginning his career on the police beat where he specialized in crime and catastrophe, Weegee roamed the city during the 1930s and ’40s in search of the Page One photo: the image that would stop you at the newsstand.He was among the first to fully realize the camera’s unique power to capture split-second drama and exaggerated emotion. But his profound influence on other photographers, most famously on Diane Arbus, derives not only from his sensational subject matter and his use of the blinding, close-up flash, but also from his eagerness to photograph the city at all hours, at all levels: coffee shops at three in the morning, hot summer evenings in the tenements, debutante balls, parties in the street, lovers on park benches, the destitute and the lonely. No other photographer has better revealed the non-stop spectacle of life in New York City.Weegee’s first book, Naked City (1945), was a runaway success and made him a celebrity who suddenly had assignments from Life and Vogue. By the publication of his second book, Weegee’s People (1946, he had cut the wires to his police radio and had begun to photograph the furred and bejeweled grandes dames at the Metropolitan Opera as well as his beloved street people. Naked Hollywood (1953) and Weegee by Weegee (1961) feature portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khruschev, and Liberace—many of them viewed through the distorted lens of his Weegee-scope.Regarded as some of the most powerful images of 20th-century photography, Weegee’s work now resides in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Art

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Weegee was the pseudonym of Ascher (later anglicized to Usher) Fellig, who emigrated to the United States when he was ten and was renamed Arthur. He was an American photographer and photojournalist, known for his stark black and white street photography.

Reviews

[Mohammad Ali Shamekhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

ویجی، یا در اصل آرتور فلیگ، از عکاسان مشهور نیویورک در نیمه نخست قرن بیستم است. او که پیش از این کتاب عکاس جنایی بوده، از خدا خواسته پیشنهاد یکی از نشریات رو برای عکاسی شهری می پذیره و وارد قلمرویی می شه یکسره متفاوت با حوزه ی عکس های جنایی. او در این کتاب لحظه های شعف و عیش مردم رو به تصویر کشیده و عامدانه حتی در سیاه ترین اوضاع اقتصادی رویه ی مثبت و شادمانه ی زندگی آدمای نیویورکو نشون داده

به نظر می آد این توجه به خوشباشی ریشه در دو عامل داره: 1) پایان جنگ دوم - چاپ اول کتاب در سال 1946 بوده - ؛ 2) سابقه ی عکاس در عکاسی جنایی. به نظرم این دو عامل باعث شده عکاس در ثبت لحظه های خوشی، که احتمالا خیلی هم گذرا بودن، موفق عمل کنه. مثلا تصاویری که از جلسه ی شبانه ی نوازنده ها تو زیرزمین یه ساختمون انداخته یا تصاویری که از بارها و سینما و ... گرفته واقعا شعف اون لحظه ها رو منتقل می کنه. البته همه ی عکسا اینجوری نیست و بعضیشون هم یه نوع نگاه اجتماعی دارن - که در مواردی معدود حتی به اندوه تنه می زنه

در مورد کیفیت چاپ هم باید تأکید کنم که کیفیت عکس ها - که همه سیاه و سفیدن - معمولیه و در حد پرینت کردن عکسی سیاه و سفید رو کاغذ عادی می مونه - عکسی که روشنی و تضادش هم چندان میزون نیست

خیلی دوست داشتم کتابای دیگه ای هم ازش ببینم ولی فقط این یکی رو تونستم گیر بیارم

حاشیه: دلیل اینکه اسم مستعار فلیگ شده ویجی سرعت عملش در حضور سر صحنه های جنایت بوده

پی نوشت: برخی از عکسای ویجی رو اینجا، اینجا و اینحا می تونید ببینید. البته فقط معدودی از عکسای دوتای اولی ربطی به این کتاب دارن و خیلیاشون جنایی ان

[Eric Cartier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, delightful photos of all the various kinds of people Weegee easily moved among. The intentional layouts and occasional humorous captions provide much pleasure, too. I'm immensely glad my library had this book, which I learned about via Susan Sontag's On Photography.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The photos in this book lack the grit of Naked City, but is still a must for for fans of Weegee.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

If someone wanted to know what New York City was like in the 1940s, what it looked like, this book would be a good place to start. "Iconic" might be the word for these photos. Note: these are "people" photos, not "building" photos.