Weegee otherwise known as Arthur Fellig born Usher Fellig
Another Sunday in Geneva, another Sunday where the only activities one is left with other than sitting around the apartment reading books and magazines that have been collecting for months is to wander off to the museums.
After catching the briefest glance of the Weegee exhibition at the BAC last month, S. and I decided to re-visit the incredible collection of Weegee photography that I am sure has ever graced the walls of a museum this side of the Atlantic.
Best known for his crime scene photography in the 30s and 40s in New York, my favorite works by the amazingly talented yet completely untrained Arthur (who earned the nickname Weegee because of his ability to show up at crime scenes before the police like a Ouija board), are from both the opera and cinema.
There are actually four shots of this same couple kissing in the dark of the cinema at this exhibition, and it is truly something to see them going at it as the rest of the audience stares intently toward the screen. Society certainly has changed since then.
The best part of the exhibition though is the slideshow with Weegee’s voice giving an interview or lecture to some anonymous audience (me for the day) about how to get into the business (buy a shortwave radio, take pictures of the events in your neighborhood, take them straight now to the newspaper office and start to pick up gigs from there) and also some of the stories behind his images. Sadly, it seems the images are rotating at random as opposed to in sync with his stories — but this man’s voice is other worldy. (Note: Peter Sellars based his voice for Dr. Strangelove on Weegee’s).
Some great mp3s here of Weegee talking about his photography.
More about the exhibition (only open until 24 October) here.
