January 20, 2012
ICP exhibition covers Weegee's early photography
The International Center of Photography today opened “Weegee: Murder is My Business,” showcasing the first 10 years in the career of of New York City’s most famous late-night tabloid photojournalist.
 Arthur Fellig, known as Weegee, got his start as a photographer at the end of the Great Depression when Prohibition was ending, the government was cracking down on organized crime and murders were on the rise.
Weegee, a freelancer, worked the night beat and said he was the “official photographer for Murder Inc..”
The new ICP exhibition displays many of his photographs and videos of New York City, displays from his Photo League shows, as well as a re-creation of his cramped bedroom, which was conveniently located across the street from police headquarters. His building on Centre Market Street had a shop that sold guns and uniforms to the officers as well as a shooting range in the basement, Brian Wallis, chief curator at ICP, said Thursday during a walk-through of the exhibition.
But Weegee wasn’t all crime all the time.
His famous crowded Coney Island pictures are shown as they appeared in News in Pictures on July 22, 1940, along with his first-person story about his day. It ends: “When I got back to the city I took a shower and finished my pictures. While I was at Coney I had two kosher frankfurters and two beers at a Jewish delicatessen on the Boardwalk. Later on for a chaser I had five more beers, a malted milk, two root beers, three Coca Colas and two glasses of buttermilk. And five cigars, costing 19 cents.”
The Weegee exhibition will be on view at the ICP through Sept. 2.
Picture credits: Top: Weegee, “Line-Up for Night Court,” ca. 1941. © Weegee/International Center of Photography. Provided by ICP.
Exhibition pictures by Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
January 20, 2012 4:02 PM in History, Midtown, Museums
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