FRAME AND FORTUNE THE GETTY EXPLORES THE LEGACY OF SEMINAL NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER WEEGEE.Byline: Fred Shuster Staff Writer You may not recognize the name Weegee, but you know his gritty signature, a confrontational flash-lit style of photography that gave big- city crime scenes a sardonic twist. The photojournalist who shot New York's underside in the 1930s and '40s in lurid black-and-white helped shape how art, advertising and movies often look today. Considered the first postmodern photographer, Weegee's tabloid shots of waifs WAIFS. Stolen goods waived or scattered by a thief in his flight in order to effect his escape. 2. Such goods by the English common law belong to the king. 1 Bl. Com. 296; 5 Co. 109; Cro. Eliz. 694. , dead gangsters, lovers, murder suspects, bums, transfixed crowds and the idle rich capture fakery, public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most ploys, anonymous big-city death and the fleeting nature of life. Through captions, subject matter and framing, Weegee, like so many of today's photographers, deliberately called attention to himself. Viewers at a vivid new exhibit of Weegee's photos at the Getty Museum can't help experiencing a jolt of adrenalin when coming across something like ``Cop Killer Cop Killer may refer to:
(at secondary school) → collégiens mpl; lycéens mpl schoolchildren school reacting after seeing a man gunned down. Another high-contrast pic captures detectives pulling a burglar from a luncheonette lunch·eon·ette n. A small restaurant that serves simple, easily prepared meals. window, another has a fleshy fleshy (flesh´e) 1. pertaining to or resembling flesh. 2. characterized by abundant flesh. woman dancing in a seedy club, her face taking on a masklike quality through Weegee's flash-lit lens. In ``Wife of the Victim,'' a traumatized woman is held firmly by two policeman as she collapses. In these and other harsh, nocturnal shots, Weegee provides the perfect visual accompaniment to the dizzying, pulse-quickening urban blast of Charlie Parker's historic be-bop quintet of the '40s. The aesthetic can be traced in the highly stylized styl·ize tr.v. styl·ized, styl·iz·ing, styl·iz·es 1. To restrict or make conform to a particular style. 2. To represent conventionally; conventionalize. violence of Frank Miller's ``Sin City'' and in flashes of TV's ``Cold Case.'' ``Weegee had a clear sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour and very sardonic take on things,'' says Judith Keller, the Getty's associate curator of photographs. ``He was very savvy about what he was doing and how he went about it.'' According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. legend, Arthur Fellig earned the Weegee nickname during his early career as a freelance press photographer Noun 1. press photographer - a photographer who works for a newspaper lensman, photographer - someone who takes photographs professionally in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . His apparent sixth sense for crime often led him to a crime scene ahead of the cops, and observers likened this mysterious talent - actually derived from the use of a police-band radio - to the Ouija board Ouija board Device for obtaining messages from the spirit world, sometimes used by a medium during a séance. The name derives from the French and German words for “yes” (oui/ja). , the fortune-telling game. Spelling it phonetically, Fellig took Weegee as his professional name. ``Even in the sense of assuming a flashy name, Weegee was smart about marketing himself and the power of publicity and myth,'' Keller says while discussing ``Scene of the Crime: Photo by Weegee,'' the Getty's survey of 70 Weegees, which opens with pictures by pioneering Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. news photographer George Watson and his nephew Coy Watson Jr. With subjects ranging from wild-eyed teen onlookers at a late-night slaying to glassy-eyed starlets at Hollywood movie premieres, Weegee was one of the first ambulance chasers. But he was as flamboyant as many of his subjects, creating his own mythology and reveling in his own notoriety. His pictures were stamped with the phrase: ``Credit Photo by Weegee the Famous.'' Boris Yaro, the Los Angeles photojournalist who took the dramatic 1968 photo of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's assassination Assassination See also Murder. assassins Fanatical Moslem sect that smoked hashish and murdered Crusaders (11th—12th centuries). [Islamic Hist.: Brewer Note-Book, 52] Brutus conspirator and assassin of Julius Caesar. [Br. (which is part of the ``Pictures for the Press'' exhibit), says his attitude about Weegee's work changed about 20 years ago when he recognized a distinctive style, energy and attitude in the late tabloid photographer's output. ``I began to really look at his pictures,'' says Yaro, who covered the L.A. crime beat for 15 years. ``And it just hit me. He had his own take on things, and it comes across in the pictures.'' Among Weegee's greatest hits is ``The Critic,'' taken at opening night of the Metropolitan Opera in 1943, showing two bejeweled be·jew·eled or be·jew·elled adj. Decorated with or as if with jewels. arts benefactors stepping from a limo, closely observed by a drunken women whom Weegee had brought from a Bowery bar and allowed to reel into the frame. The dramatic contrast of the idle rich at play and the poor, looking like something out of Dickens, is striking. ``These pictures plainly reflect Weegee's opinion,'' Keller says. ``It was staged, but the ethics of photojournalism were different in those days.'' Carting around his bulky Speed Graphic camera, with flashbulbs in hand, Weegee prowled New York City from dusk to dawn, selling his pictures by morning to newspapers and picture agencies. On the cop beat, he stepped into scenes of accidents, arrests, fires, murders and riots, also taking his camera to jazz concerts and Greenwich Village parties, racing from Harlem to Skid Row. Sometimes, he'd use infrared film to catch canoodling couples in darkened dark·en v. dark·ened, dark·en·ing, dark·ens v.tr. 1. a. To make dark or darker. b. To give a darker hue to. 2. To fill with sadness; make gloomy. 3. movie theaters or parks. His work is voyeuristic, cynical and designed to entertain. ``He wasn't modest,'' Keller says. ``It was everything to excess. He was a very good self-promoter.'' Once he became Weegee ``the Famous,'' the photographer, who died 1968 at age 69, worked in Hollywood as a filmmaker, performer and technical consultant. His 1945 book ``Naked City'' was the inspiration for the Oscar-winning 1948 documentary-style film-noir classic ``The Naked City'' (where he appears briefly as a news photographer), and later the title of a pioneering realistic TV police drama series. (In 1958, Weegee was an uncredited un·cred·it·ed adj. 1. Not having been credited, as on a ledger: an uncredited deposit. 2. Not having been accorded due recognition: an uncredited discovery. special-effects consultant for Stanley Kubrick's ``Dr. Strangelove'' (1964); his accent was said to be the inspiration for the accent of the title character). ``The Public Eye'' (1992), starring Joe Pesci, was based on the man himself. Weegee's work influenced the work of such East Coast artists as Diane Arbus and Andy Warhol, by extension helping shape fashion photography, advertising and the neo-noir school of gritty filmmaking. His style can also be found in the work of the Coen Brothers (``Blood Simple'') and in the work of filmmaker and photographer Larry Clark (``Kids''). ``There were certainly a lot of other news photographers at the time, but Weegee was intrepid and spent his whole life looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. that next good shot,'' Keller said. ``He hustled. He was completely dedicated to his work, to the detriment of his health, if not his sanity. ``He was the quintessential police photographer.'' Fred Shuster, (818) 713-3676 fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com SCENE OF THE CRIME: PHOTO BY WEEGEE and PICTURES FOR THE PRESS What: Two decades of headline-making news images of the 1930s and '40s from tabloid photographer Arthur Fellig, aka Weegee. Part of the ``American Visions'' showcase of images from the Getty's photo archive that also includes ``Pictures for the Press,'' an overview of iconic news prints of the 20th century. Where: J. Paul Getty Jean Paul Getty (December 15, 1892 – June 6, 1976) was an American industrialist and founder of the Getty Oil Company. Biography Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, into a family already in the petroleum business, he was one of the first people in the world with a Museum, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles. When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and Sundays. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Closed Mondays. Through Jan. 22. Tickets: Free admission; parking $7. (310) 440-7300; getty.edu. The bigger picture A series of free events related to ``Photo by Weegee'' and ``Pictures for the Press'' takes place at the Getty Museum through the end of the year. Here are selected dates. For the complete list, see getty.edu or call (310) 440-7300. Seating reservations required. New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Crime Films (``The Naked City,'' ``Dead End,'' ``Angels With Dirty Faces,'' ``Regeneration'') (Oct. 14-15). Curator's Gallery Talk with Brett Abbott (Oct. 27). Lecture: ``On Being a Press Photographer'' with James Nachtwey (Nov. 20). Point-of-View Talk with Delmar Watson (Dec. 2). Panel Discussion with USC's Michael Parks, The New York Times' Philip Gefter and others. (Dec. 8). Curator's Gallery Talk with Judith Keller (Dec. 13). Developing stories, enduring images Alongside the Getty's Weegee show is ``Pictures for the Press,'' an exhibit of press shots covering world events between 1944 and the mid-1970s. That era, the heyday of pre-digital Wirephoto technology, was a time when news images were first sent relatively easily over phone lines for publication around the world. By 1940, photos occupied about one-third of news space in the average U.S. metropolitan newspaper, reaching a level of importance continuing today. ``These days, of course, it's all computer to computer, digital to satellite, but back then, it was a much slower, more elaborate process,'' says Brett Abbott, the Getty's assistant curator of photographs. ``These are original press prints used to transmit the image, and often hand-scrawled captions, over phone lines to various newspapers.'' The exhibit covers war, politics and civil rights by well-known photographers such as Larry Burrows, Robert Capa and W. Eugene Smith William Eugene Smith (1918-1978) was an American photojournalist known for his refusal to compromise professional standards and his brutally vivid World War II photographs. Born in Wichita, Kansas, Smith graduated from Wichita North High School in 1936. , along with lesser-known and sometimes unidentified makers. Included are iconic images of the atomic explosion over Nagasaki; the D-Day invasion of Omaha Beach during World War II; the assassination of President John F. Kennedy "John Kennedy" and "JFK" redirect here. For other uses, see John Kennedy (disambiguation) and JFK (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in and the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald Noun 1. Lee Harvey Oswald - United States assassin of President John F. Kennedy (1939-1963) Oswald ; civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, Ala.; and the evacuation of Saigon. Many of the 36 prints in the exhibit show the stamps, inscriptions, airbrushing and worn quality of frequently handled archival documents. Also on display is Los Angeles-based photographer Nick Ut's Wirephoto transmission device used to send his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1972 shot of a naked Vietnamese girl fleeing a napalm attack. ``The really successful press shots are visually compelling while conveying newsworthy information,'' Abbott said. ``Some of these shots are striking - and horrific.'' CAPTION(S): 5 photos, 3 boxes Photo: (1) Arthur Fellig, aka Weegee - or, as he stamped his photos, ``Weegee the Famous'' - created a gritty style that has shaped much of today's visual media. (2) ``THE CRITIC'' (3) ``THEIR FIRST MURDER'' (4) ``COP KILLER'' (5) ``SIMPLY ADD BOILING WATER'' Box: (1) SCENE OF THE CRIME: PHOTO BY WEEGEE and PICTURES FOR THE PRESS (see text) (2) The bigger picture (see text) (3) Developing stories, enduring images (see text) |
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