View allAll Photos Tagged weegee
Arthur Fellig (1899/1969), 'Weegee'". Photo by Weegee/Arthur Fellig, janvier 1944. International Center of Photography/Getty Images. Reproduction, collection personnelle.
Rich Cohen: Yiddish connection, Histoires vraies des gangsters juifs américains
( Tough Jews)
Traduit de l'américain par Frédérik Hel Guedj
Denoël - Paris, 2002
couverture: © Weegee
People are so wonderful that a photographer has only to wait for that breathless moment to capture what he wants on film. --Weegee
Maker:
Born:
Active: USA
Medium: book
Size: 9 1/2" x 12 1/4"
Location:
Object No. 2015.878b
Shelf: library
Publication: U.S. Camera Annual, 1948
Other Collections:
Provenance:
Notes: Edward Steichen had been the chief judge and later the picture editor of the U.S. Camera Annual since its founding in 1937. In 1947 he resigned that position when he joined the Museum of Modern Art as Curator of Photographs. This was the first issue without his input. The annual pens with an article called "The Battle With The Slums" about the rediscovery of the early documentary work of Jacob A. Riis, then the subject f an exhibition at The Museum of the City of New York. The annual also contained photographs by Berenice Abbott, Ansel Adams, Cecil Beaton, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Imogen Cunningham, Irving Penn, Weegee, and a long list of other working photographers of the day.
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I figured out how to take digital b/w pictures. Took me a long time. It's one of those gimmicky effects things, but still, I can see what an image should look like before taking it.
This image reminds me of something from Weegee's era. New York is great for b&w.
property of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
for educational purpose only
please do not use without permission
Three reproduction palmistry hands sit atop a bookcase in our living room. They share space with a vintage wooden ouija board and planchette. This is one of two ouija boards by William Fuld of Baltimore with a 1915 patent date.
Above the ouija board is a photograph Jack made of the the three palmistry hands with reflections. This series of phrenology heads and palmistry hands is the reason we started this area of our collection.
I often joke that if you see a black space on our walls it means that we have not unpacked the photograph that goes there. In the case of the open area on the left side this was true but should soon be remedied. It will display framed sheet music called "Weegee Weegee Tell Me Do" from 1920. I have unpacked it but it needs to be framed before it can take its place on the wall. I am posting a scan of its cover following this image.
da wikipedia
Weegee era lo pseudonimo del fotografo statunitense Arthur Fellig (il cui nome originario era Usher Fellig).
Nacque, secondo di sette fratelli, da Rachel and Bernard Fellig il 12 giugno del 1899 in Austria a Zloczew in Lemberg (nota come Lvov o Lviv, attuale Ucraina). Nel 1906 il padre Bernard, a causa dei primi movimenti antisemiti, emigra negli Stati Uniti dove la famiglia lo raggiunge nel 1910. All’arrivo ad Ellis Island il nome Usher gli viene cambiato in Arthur.
Il padre in Austria aveva iniziato a studiare da rabbino, ma per mantenere la famiglia è costretto al mestiere di venditore ambulante a Manhattan, ed insieme alla moglie lavora come portiere in cambio dell’affitto del piccolo appartamento dove la numerosa famiglia prende dimora nel Lower East Side. La famiglia mantiene una forte osservanza della religione ebraica, mantenendo regole ed osservanze molto rigide. Solamente in vecchiaia Bernard completerà gli studi religiosi divenendo rabbino.
Nel 1914 Arthur decide di interrompere il ciclo di istruzione scolastica per contribuire all'economia familiare dedicandosi ad una serie di occupazioni quale lavapiatti dell’Automat. In questi anni si avvicina alla fotografia iniziando a lavorare prima come aiutante di camera oscura, poi come assistente di un fotografo commerciale, poi come fotografo di passaporti ed, infine, come ritrattista di strada: acquista un pony e fotografa i bambini del Lower East Side nel fine settimana.
Nel 1917, oppresso dalle rigide regole della sua famiglia, abbandona la casa paterna e vive da homeless per un lungo periodo, trovando accoglienza presso le opere missionarie, dormendo nei parchi pubblici e, spesso nella stazione ferroviaria di Pennsylvania Railroad. Nel frattempo intraprende una nuova serie di lavori: bigliettaio di bus, lavapiatti e giornaliero presso una piccola fabbrica di caramelle e biscotti. Mentre matura il progetto di aprire un proprio studio fotografico, nel 1918 Weegee trova lavoro presso lo studio fotografico Ducket & Adler a Grand Street in Lower Manhattan, dove svolge diverse mansioni tecniche in studio di ripresa e in camera oscura.
Dal 1921 al 1922 lavora come assistente di camera oscura presso il New York Times e presso il collegato sindacato di fotografi: il Wide World Photos. Nel 1924 e fino al 1936 entra a far parte della Acme Newspictures (successivamente assorbita dalla United Press International Photos) come operatore di camera oscura e stampatore a 20 dollari a settimana. Si promone come fotoreporter, ma rifiuta di indossare camicia bianca e cravatta e a causa di ciò viene inviato come fotografo solo occasionalmente nelle situazioni di emergenza.
Nel 1936 lascia l’Acme per dedicarsi all’attività di fotogiornalista free-lance. Equipaggiato di una Speed Graphic inizia una frenetica attività frequentando il quartier generale della Polizia di Manhattan. Ciò gli permette di essere sempre presente in occasione di assassini, risse notturne, incidenti ed incendi. Le le sue foto vengono pubblicate negli articoli di cronaca delle principali testate newyorkesi: Herald Tribune, Daily News, Post, World-Telegram, Journal America, Sun ed altri. La sua fama è talmente nota al Dipartimento di Polizia a Spring Street che Weegee può organizzare la sua attività basando un ufficio personale ed informale all'interno dell'Ufficio Persone Smarrite. È lì che tiene i suoi contatti, fa le sue chiamate telefoniche, riscuote compensi, invia conti, incontra gli amici.
Nel 1938 è il primo cittadino di New York a ricevere il permesso di istallare il sistema radio della polizia sulla sua autovettura Chevrolet, sulla quale monta anche la sua attrezzatura fotografica a da stampa per utilizzarla anche come camera oscura. La sua capacità di arrivare sul luogo del crimine contemporaneamente alla polizia, quando non prima di questa, gli permette di realizzare una ricca serie di scoop fotografici. È in questi tempi che si da il nome d’arte di Weegee. L’origine della scelta di questo appellativo è controversa: secondo alcuni Weegee sarebbe l’equivalente fonetico del Ouija un popolare gioco dell’epoca che prediceva il futuro, decorato con fantasiose immagini, una di queste rappresentanti un fotografo. Secondo un altro aneddoto l’appellativo prese origine dalla domanda ironica postagli da un poliziotto se fosse in possesso di una tavola Ouija per sottolineare la sua presenza costante e tempestiva sulla scena di ogni crimine. Altri ritengono che derivi dalla stroncatura di squeegee boy, con riferiemnto alla sua precedente attività al New York Times riferendosi alla fase di rimozione dell’eccesso di acqua dalle stampe prima di essere processate negli asciugatori.
Inizia il eriodo più significativo dell'opera di Weegee che immortala New York dal 1935 al 1947.
Nel 1940 la sua fama è già riconosciuta ed il progressista quotidiano serale PM Daily gli affida una posizione speciale: la creazione di foto-storie di sua scelta.
Nel 1941 espone la sua prima personale al Photo League di New York che apre con il titolo “Weegee: Murder is My Busines". Durante questo periodo inizia a sperimentare anche con una macchina da presa 16 mm.
Nel 1943 il Museum of Modern Art di New York acquista cinque fotografie di Weegee che vengono esposte nella sezione permanente "Action Photography”.
Due anni dopo nel 1945 viene pubblicato Naked City (New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce; Essential Books), il suo primo catalogo di fotografie cui segue una campagna pubblicitaria nazionale, e che ispirerà il film The Naked City (1948) e la successiva serie TV "Naked City" (1958). In questo periodo inizia anche la collaborazione con Vogue.
Nel 1946 viene pubblicato "Weegee's People" (New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce; Essential Books) ed è invitato ad eseguire una lettura presso la New School for Social Research di New York. Mark Hellinger acquista i diritti di titolo Naked City, per realizzarne la versione cinematografica ad Hollywood.
Convola a nozze con Margaret Atwood nel 1947. La coppia si trasferisce a Hollywood per consentire a Weegee di seguire come consulente la lavorazione del film Naked City. Prosegue nell’attività di consulente per diversi film e interpreta alcuni ruoli minori e cammei. In questi anni inizia a sperimentare nuovi obiettivi ed altri strumenti ottici che gli suggeriscono la creazione della serie di "distorsioni".
Nel 1948 viene proiettato The Naked City dell’Universal Pictures. Weegee appare per la prima volta come extra nel film "Every Girl Should Be Married". Il suo primo primo cortometraggio "Weegee's New York" (20 minuti, bianco e nero, muto, in 16mm) viene rappresentato nella mostra "50 Photographs by 50 Photographers" organizzata da Edward Steichen al Museum of Modern Art di New York.
Nel 1949 si separa da Margaret Atwood ed ottiene il divorzio un anno dopo.
Nel 1950 produce il cortometraggio "Cocktail Party" (5 minuti, bianco e nero, muto, in 16mm).
Ritorna a New York e realizza la serie di distorsioni - che egli stesso definisce caricature dei ritratti di celebrità dello spettacolo e del mondo politico - che pubblicherà insieme a Mel Harris in Naked Hollywood (New York: Pellegrini and Cudahy). Le distorsioni vengono pubblicate anche nel numero di luglio di Vogue.
Nel 1950 quando gli viene diagnosticato il diabete si trasferisce sulla West 47th Street, a casa di Wilma Wilcox, che sarà sua compagna per il resto della vita.
Nel 1958 viene chiamato come consulente dal regista Stanley Kubrick per le riprese del film "Dr. Stranamore" (Dr. Strangelove: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb). Nello stesso anno inizia una lunga serie di viaggi in Europa.
Viaggia in Europa fino al 1968, lavorando per il Daily Mirror e produce numerose fotografie, film, lezioni e progetti di libri.
Nel 1959 è in Unione Sovietica per una serie di conferenze legate a mostre lì realizzate. Pubblica "Weegee's Creative Camera" (Garden City, New York: Hanover House). Espone "Weegee: Caricatures of the Great" al Photokina di Colonia.
Nel 1961 pubblica la sua autobiografia Weegee by Weegee (New York: Ziff-Davis).
Nel 1962 espone nuovamente al Photokina di Colonia e nel 1964 pubblica Weegee's Creative Photography (London: Ward, Lock, and Co.). Nel 1965 realizza il cortometraggio The Idiot Box (5 minuti, bianco e nero, sonoro, 16mm).
Il 26 dicembre 1968 Weegee si spegne a New York all’età di 69 anni.
A warm and feverish night in the bar "El Casino Social", along the port of Valparaiso, Chile.
Leica M6, 35mm, f/2, Kodak Tri-x 400, scan from a neg.
Mat Fraser performing as Sealo in front of David Carbone's painting "Contortionist in Red" at opening reception for "Side Show" at Yale School of Art
FOLSOM STREET FAIR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- This is the shot that could have been...
I was at the Folsom Street Fair yesterday and I noticed this lady in the black, vinyl dress flagellating a man against the killer magenta wall.
Nothing unusual, so far.
Then, this economically-challenged lady approaches from the right, and is taken back by this public display of S&M (PDSM). While the woman in the vinyl continues to torture her partner, this woman on the right hesitates for at least a minute, unsure if she can walk by. I'm watching her with my camera waiting for the perfect moment to take the shot and capture my homage to the great Weegee's photograph The Critic
Suddenly, the woman moves...I'm ready to shoot....then this other woman with a camera suddenly appears from the left and steps RIGHT IN MY WAY and blocks my view for that split second when the woman on the right passes by the enthralled couple!!!
Could not f****** believe it!!!!
DALE MESSICK
Dalia "Dale" Messick (April 11, 1906 – April 5, 2005) was the first woman syndicated comic strip artist in the United States. She was best known as the creator of Brenda Starr, which at its peak in the 1950s ran in 250 newspapers.
Dale Messick was born on April 11, 1906 in South Bend, Indiana to a seamstress and commercial artist. She had an interest in writing and drawing since childhood. She studied briefly at the Ray Commercial Art School in Chicago but left to begin a career as a professional artist.
She began working for a Chicago greeting card company and was successful but quit when her boss lowered her pay during the Great Depression. She moved to New York City and found work at another greeting card company at a higher salary, and began assembling a portfolio of comic strips after work.
Messick was not the first female comic strip creator; Nel Brinkley, Gladys Parker, and Edwina Dumm had all achieved success in the field. But there was still a bias against women and Messick decided to change her first name to Dale to help get her work seen by editors. She produced a number of ideas for strips with titles such as Weegee, Mimi the Mermaid, Peg and Pudy, the Struglettes, and Streamline Babies, none of which were picked up for publication
Brenda Starr
Messick created the character of Brenda Starr in 1940, naming it after a debutante from the 1930s and basing her appearance on Rita Hayworth. Messick wanted to produce a strip with a female protagonist; she decided a career as a reporter would allow her character to travel and have adventures, adventures more glamorous than those actually experienced by most reporters. She later commented on this in a 1986 article about her in the San Francisco Chronicle:
I used to get letters from girl reporters saying that their lives were nowhere near as exciting as Brenda's. I told them that if I made Brenda's life like theirs, nobody would read it.
Her break came when she came to the attention of another woman, Mollie Slott, who worked as a "girl Friday" (à la His Girl Friday) for New York Daily News publisher (and syndicate head) Joseph Medill Patterson. Patterson, reputedly biased against women cartoonists, wouldn't sign her up for daily publication in the News, but he accepted Brenda Starr, Reporter for syndication as a Sunday comic, and it made its debut on June 30, 1940. It was quickly a success; its mixture of adventure and romance was popular with both male and female readers.
Messick went on to create a number of other comic strips but none achieved the success of Brenda Starr. The only other strip which she worked on which is generally remembered was Perry Mason which she illustrated.
Messick retired from producing Brenda Starr in 1980. Ramona Fradon (artist) and Linda Sutter (writer) took over the strip from 1980 to 1985. June Brigman (artist) and Mary Schmich (writer) have done the strip from 1985 to the present. Messick wasn't impressed with her successors' versions of Starr, according to a 1998 quote in the Sonoma County Independent:
Now it doesn't look like Brenda at all. She looks more like she works at a bank. No glamour, no curves, no fashion — but it's still going pretty good.
Following her retirement from Brenda Starr, she moved to Oakmont, California to be near her daughter and grandchildren. She continued to work and created a new strip, Granny Glamour, which ran in Oakmont Gardens Magazine, a local weekly magazine. It ended after she had a stroke in 1998 and couldn't draw any more.
In 1995, Brenda Starr was one of twenty comic strips honored by a series of United States postage stamps; Messick was the only living creator.
She received the National Cartoonists Society's Story Comic Book Award for 1975 and their Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 for her work on Brenda Starr.
Cartoonist Dale Messick Dies; Creator of 'Brenda Starr' Strip
By Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Dale Messick, 98, whose glamorous, spirited, redheaded reporter Brenda Starr cracked open the comics pages for adventure-seeking female characters and cartoonists, died April 5 after a series of strokes. She was at her daughter's home in Penngrove, Calif.
Ms. Messick, who often described Brenda as her alter ego, created the quick-witted character in 1940. She drew and wrote "Brenda Starr, Reporter" for 43 years, until the syndicate that owned it pressured her to retire. The strip, which at its peak appeared in 250 newspapers.
Dale Messick
(Dalia Messick)
(11/4/1906 - 5/4/2005, USA)
Brooklyn, 87°F, humidity 83%, and the elevator is broken again.
When I showed up the alarm was buzzing, the elevator door was stuck shut, and this woman was between the first and second floor. The super was banging on the door trying to tell her that the fire department was coming but the super thought she only spoke Spanish. So I ran up to the 5th floor got Nina and Nina started screaming through the door in Spanish to say that the fire department was coming. The fire department came, ripped open the door, and as this woman nervously climbs up the ladder a fireman says "how do you say head in spanish?" "Cabeza", Nina. "Watch out for you Cah-Base-saaaa," fireman. The funny part was she was not responding to English or Spanish. She was Haitian.
DALE MESSICK
Dalia "Dale" Messick (April 11, 1906 – April 5, 2005) was the first woman syndicated comic strip artist in the United States. She was best known as the creator of Brenda Starr, which at its peak in the 1950s ran in 250 newspapers.
Dale Messick was born on April 11, 1906 in South Bend, Indiana to a seamstress and commercial artist. She had an interest in writing and drawing since childhood. She studied briefly at the Ray Commercial Art School in Chicago but left to begin a career as a professional artist.
She began working for a Chicago greeting card company and was successful but quit when her boss lowered her pay during the Great Depression. She moved to New York City and found work at another greeting card company at a higher salary, and began assembling a portfolio of comic strips after work.
Messick was not the first female comic strip creator; Nel Brinkley, Gladys Parker, and Edwina Dumm had all achieved success in the field. But there was still a bias against women and Messick decided to change her first name to Dale to help get her work seen by editors. She produced a number of ideas for strips with titles such as Weegee, Mimi the Mermaid, Peg and Pudy, the Struglettes, and Streamline Babies, none of which were picked up for publication
Brenda Starr
Messick created the character of Brenda Starr in 1940, naming it after a debutante from the 1930s and basing her appearance on Rita Hayworth. Messick wanted to produce a strip with a female protagonist; she decided a career as a reporter would allow her character to travel and have adventures, adventures more glamorous than those actually experienced by most reporters. She later commented on this in a 1986 article about her in the San Francisco Chronicle:
I used to get letters from girl reporters saying that their lives were nowhere near as exciting as Brenda's. I told them that if I made Brenda's life like theirs, nobody would read it.
Her break came when she came to the attention of another woman, Mollie Slott, who worked as a "girl Friday" (à la His Girl Friday) for New York Daily News publisher (and syndicate head) Joseph Medill Patterson. Patterson, reputedly biased against women cartoonists, wouldn't sign her up for daily publication in the News, but he accepted Brenda Starr, Reporter for syndication as a Sunday comic, and it made its debut on June 30, 1940. It was quickly a success; its mixture of adventure and romance was popular with both male and female readers.
Messick went on to create a number of other comic strips but none achieved the success of Brenda Starr. The only other strip which she worked on which is generally remembered was Perry Mason which she illustrated.
Messick retired from producing Brenda Starr in 1980. Ramona Fradon (artist) and Linda Sutter (writer) took over the strip from 1980 to 1985. June Brigman (artist) and Mary Schmich (writer) have done the strip from 1985 to the present. Messick wasn't impressed with her successors' versions of Starr, according to a 1998 quote in the Sonoma County Independent:
Now it doesn't look like Brenda at all. She looks more like she works at a bank. No glamour, no curves, no fashion — but it's still going pretty good.
Following her retirement from Brenda Starr, she moved to Oakmont, California to be near her daughter and grandchildren. She continued to work and created a new strip, Granny Glamour, which ran in Oakmont Gardens Magazine, a local weekly magazine. It ended after she had a stroke in 1998 and couldn't draw any more.
In 1995, Brenda Starr was one of twenty comic strips honored by a series of United States postage stamps; Messick was the only living creator.
She received the National Cartoonists Society's Story Comic Book Award for 1975 and their Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 for her work on Brenda Starr.
Cartoonist Dale Messick Dies; Creator of 'Brenda Starr' Strip
By Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Dale Messick, 98, whose glamorous, spirited, redheaded reporter Brenda Starr cracked open the comics pages for adventure-seeking female characters and cartoonists, died April 5 after a series of strokes. She was at her daughter's home in Penngrove, Calif.
Ms. Messick, who often described Brenda as her alter ego, created the quick-witted character in 1940. She drew and wrote "Brenda Starr, Reporter" for 43 years, until the syndicate that owned it pressured her to retire. The strip, which at its peak appeared in 250 newspapers.
Dale Messick
(Dalia Messick)
(11/4/1906 - 5/4/2005, USA)
The Futuro house is a failed dream of Finnish design. Contains many details that cry out NOT to be made of plastic. Quite creepy to spend a few minutes in.
After the ascent of volcano Villarica (2840m), Chile.
Leica M6, 35mm, f/2, Kodak Tmax 100, scan from a neg.
Artist Slimm Buick at Club Deluxe, Haight Street San Francisco
Nikon One-Touch ps camera with Tri X film,
photographed 1992
Maker: Arthur Fellig, aka Weegee (1899 - 1968)
Born: Ukraine
Active: USA
Medium: book
Size:
Location:
Object No. 2018.484
Shelf: PHO-1946
Publication:
Other Collections:
Provenance:
Rank: 78
Notes: American photographer, active in New York City and Hollywood. Arthur Fellig, known as Weegee professionally, is noted for his photographs depicting crime and other newsworthy events, usually taken at night. His early career was spent as a freelance press photographer. He prided himself on his ability to arrive at the scene of a crime before the police, and derived his name from the phonetic pronunciation of the Ouija board. He sold his images to tabloid newspapers from 1935 through the 1940s, and published his first book, Naked City in 1945, followed by Weegee's People in 1946. Naked City was a commercial success and guaranteed his income. At this point he began taking portraits of celebrities and figures in the entertainment industry. He used a variety of trick lenses to distort and manipulate these images, and often exposed or exagerrated the imperfections of his subjects. He experimented with infrared film and flash to make exposures in darkness, particularly of people in darkened movie theaters. Weegee used a 4x5 Speed Graphic press camera and flash exclusively throughout his career; and is not known for his printing virtuosity, but for the elements of social critique in his photographs. He was a flamboyant character, and revelled in his own notoreity and mythology. (source: Getty Museum)
To view our archive organized by themes and subjects, visit: OUR COLLECTIONS