Joey Scolieri - Weekly Artist Post 15

Weegee

1. Weegee took all of his photographs during night time with a Speed Graphic film camera around New York City. The main subjects of his images are either victims at a crime scene or bystanders. The photos are all taken using a flash for the light source and are in black and white. Weegee always seems to be within 5-6ft of his subjects and the main subject of the image is usually looking away from the camera. 

2. Weegee lived and took photographs in New York City from 1938-1947, mostly focusing on Manhattan at night. He was a former press photographer turned freelancer with his main focus on  photographing crime scenes. His intent through this series of photos was to capture the essence of New York City during that era, the city was violent, noisy, and in constant motion and he wanted to convey that to the viewer. The first image was taken towards the end of World War 2 and the focal point of the image is of the man strangling Hitler in effigy, the young men smiling and actively trying to be in the photo makes the photo feel less staged. The second image is of a man who was killed while in the process of a robbery, the dead body isn't fully in the frame but the crowd of men behind the body is. I think that he was trying to show that the individuals living in that area were extremely used to seeing dead bodies and it was a sort of conversational topic. The last image is of a cop who is using his jacket to shield a little girl from the rain. This image is one of my all time favorite photos because it captures a time in American history where cops and people in general had a sense of duty and honor. The cop isn't making a big deal about what he's doing and he's not even looking at the camera while his picture is being taken and to me that gives off the sense that this was a genuine act of kindness and Weegee happened to capture it. 

3. Weegee is one of my new favorite photographers. I really enjoy looking at all of his images because each image seems so raw and not staged. He was living and photographing in an era where America was in constant motion and almost disarray with the war going on and his images depict that perfectly. Each person that he photographs has so much emotion to them that the viewer can almost feel it too.