Arthur H. Fellig AKA "Weegee"

[spiralcity]

I find Weegee's work hard hitting. His photo's always seem to capture the moment. I seem to be at the scene when I view his photo's. Not only can I see what's going on but I can hear and smell the excitment in viewing each frame.

“Crime was my oyster,” Weegee wrote in his 1961 memoir, “Weegee by Weegee.” “I was friend and confidant to them all. The bookies, madams, gamblers, call girls, pimps, con men, burglars and jewel fencers.” For his behind-bars portraits of famous gangsters like Dutch Schultz, Legs Diamond, Waxey Gordon and Mad Dog Coll, colleagues called him “the official photographer for Murder, Inc.”

[fish4570]

the guy had street creds, for sure, and an eye for the ironic ...

[TDN]

He did a behind-the-scenes series for Stanley Kubrick once on the set of one of his movies. I saw it at an exhibition a few years ago, but haven't been able to find it online.

Great photographer, with a lot of guts too. He arrived at the crime scene sooner than the police on most occasions :p

Tom

[cooltouch]

I'm reminded of the film, The Public Eye, with Joe Pesci playing the part of Leon "Bernzy" Bernstein, which is obviously based on the exploits of Weegee. In one scene of the movie, Bernzy was actually present during a mob shootout. Dunno if Weegee was ever that close to the action when it happened, but the film leaves one thinking that he sure might have been.

Anyway, that's a cool film, especially for folks who are into the old gear.

[francotirador]

2º, 3º, 4º y 6º me parecen grandes fotografias, tienen algo de Cartier Bresson, aunque son del genero policial.