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Weegee must have irritated the hell out of the NYPD with his deft persistence and indefatigable urge to capture the lifeless morbidity of a New York crime scene, but where would any of us get to without the shameless capacity to annoy?

The Austrian/Ukrainian-born photographer, more traditionally known as Arthur Fellig, was nicknamed Weegee, after the teenage-girl sleep-over classic, the Ouija board - thanks to his almost ghostly ability to arrive uninvited, at a crime or murder scene.

He spent years doing odd jobs, assisting in dark rooms and even attempting his own weekend business as a portrait photographer, but his big break came in the form of The New York Times and their photo syndicate Wide World Photos, where he worked for two years as a helper in the dark rooms. This aided him to gain the role of darkroom technician and printer at Acme Newspictures, before entering the harsh and ruthless world of freelance.

This was about the time he started hovering around the Manhattan police headquarters, angling for his next photojournalist expose and was printed extensively in a number of national and global publications, proving that dedication does pay off.

Between 1935 and 1947 is thought to be stage one in the period of significance for Weegee as a world-renowned photographer. The police had given him the benefit of the doubt and allowed him access to their radio, and he even developed them in the back of his car. He continued with his awe-inspiring work and was exhibited widely in the Photo League in New York with, “Weegee: Murder is My Business”, in 1941 and The Museum of Modern Art and in 1945, shortly before the publication of his first book, Naked City.

Shortly after publishing his second book, Weegee’s People, he succumbed to the glitzy beckoning of the star-studded US dollar and sold the rights of Naked City to Hollywood feature film maker Mark Hellinger.

During the next couple of years, he moved to Hollywood and put his handheld 16mm movie camera experimentation into bloody good use, by completing his first 20 minute film, Weegee’s New York in 1948.

Over the next two decades, his compelling and ever-adapting talents were highlighted in a number of new projects. He continued with various publications and exhibitions in Europe and (what was) USSR and began producing ‘distorted’ portraits of celebrities. In 1958, he worked alongside the Prince of dark cinema, Stanley Kubrick on his film, Dr Strangelove. And in 1961, seven years before his death, he published his autobiography, Weegee by Weegee.

His significant pictures, both still and moving carry a combination of both the stark reality of modern times, and the dark surrealism of his macabre and poignant gift for capturing them. And the groundbreaking work by this fascinating and unmistakably talented, photojournalist will be shown at The Side Gallery on Newcastle’s Quayside throughout October and November.

Tags: manhattan, new york, newcastle, quayside, side, side gallery, weegee
Posted at October 29th, 2008 by Helen Foley | No Comments »