Works
  • Weegee, Coney Island
    Coney Island
  • Weegee, Los Angeles, c. 1950
    Los Angeles, c. 1950
  • Weegee, Auto Accident, New York, 1943
    Auto Accident, New York, 1943
  • Weegee, A Frank Sinatra Fan at the Palace Theatre, New York City, 1944
    A Frank Sinatra Fan at the Palace Theatre, New York City, 1944
  • Weegee, A Man Is Arrested Wearing Women’s Clothes, 1940s
    A Man Is Arrested Wearing Women’s Clothes, 1940s
  • Weegee, After the opera...at Sammy’s Night Club on the Bowery, ca.1944
    After the opera...at Sammy’s Night Club on the Bowery, ca.1944
  • Weegee, Car Crash
    Car Crash
  • Weegee, Hold up man killed, 1941
    Hold up man killed, 1941
  • Weegee, Kettle of Fish, c. 1956
    Kettle of Fish, c. 1956
  • Weegee, Street Scene, New York City, c. 1944
    Street Scene, New York City, c. 1944
  • Weegee, ‘Frank Pape’ October 1944
    ‘Frank Pape’ October 1944
  • Weegee, ‘Tavern of ground floor of burning building at 80 Greenwich St. is the shelter for firemen overcome by smoke New Years Eve. Customers also had a hot time.”, January 2nd 1945
    ‘Tavern of ground floor of burning building at 80 Greenwich St. is the shelter for firemen overcome by smoke New Years Eve. Customers also had a hot time.”, January 2nd 1945
  • Weegee, “Dancing Tonite”, New Gardens, Times Square, c. 1944
    “Dancing Tonite”, New Gardens, Times Square, c. 1944
  • Weegee, “Dora”, April 16th, 1944
    “Dora”, April 16th, 1944
  • Weegee, “The Critic”, 1943
    “The Critic”, 1943
Biography
Ronny Jaques, Weegee on location for the film ‘Naked City’, NYC 1947
Ronny Jaques, Weegee on location for the film ‘Naked City’, NYC 1947
Weegee was born in the Austrian province of Galicia, today part of Ukraine. His real name was Usher (later Arthur) Fellig and he was the second of seven children from Jewish parents. Weegee's family left Europe in 1910 for New York, but life wasn't easy at that time in the Lower East Side where Weegee attended the local public school. At only fifteen, Weegee left home and in 1917, he got a job in a photo studio where he became an assistant to a cameraman. In 1921, he got a part-time position in the darkrooms of the New York Times and its agency Wide World Photos, soon afterwards switching to Acme News pictures. Eventually, frustrated with the lack of recognition for his work, and not having his name on photographs, he became a freelance news photographer by late 1935. 
 
 
PEOPLE ARE SO WONDERFUL THAT A PHOTOGRAPHER HAS ONLY TO WAIT FOR THAT BREATHLESS MOMENT TO CAPTURE WHAT HE WANTS ON FILM.
 - Weegee
 
 
First published in LIFE, December 6 1943, he gained almost instant success. He specialized on the night shift between 10pm and 5am. His reputation spread quickly for always being one of the first to arrive at a murder scene, a fire, arrest or rescue event. By 1937, his success had earned him profile pieces in LIFE and Popular Photgraphy magazines. In 1938, as one of the first civilians and as the first photographer, Weegee was granted a permit to install and operate a shortwave radio capable of receiving all police and fire transmissions from his 1938 Chevrolet.
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