ICP | Weegee Society of the Spectacle Exhibition
THE EXPERIENCE
I had the privilege of attending the opening of this strikingly contrasting exhibition on January 22, 2025, at the International Center of Photography. As you'll read below, the duality of Weegee's work is profoundly impactful. One gallery showcases photographs of smiling, cheerful subjects, while the adjacent gallery plunges you into raw and graphic crime scene imagery.
I must admit, despite being a fan of gory movies and true crime documentaries, I found myself needing to step back after viewing an entire wall of these harrowing images. The intensity and unfiltered nature of the photographs were overwhelming, even for me.
The exhibition is extensive and rich in content, so prepare for a deep dive. If you're like me and enjoy reading the detailed synopses accompanying each piece, you’ll want to set aside about three hours to fully absorb the experience.
THE EXHIBITION
Jan 23, 2025 – May 05, 2025.
The career of photographer Weegee (born Arthur Fellig, 1899-1968) is often divided into two distinct phases, one gritty, the other glamorous. Celebrated for his sensationalist images of crime scenes, fires, car crashes, and the onlookers who witnessed these harrowing events across New York City in the 1930s and ‘40s, Weegee also spent time in his career documenting the joyful crowds, premieres, and celebrities of Hollywood. His documentary images on both coasts gave way to experimental portraits late in his life, which were distorted using a kaleidoscope and other tricks from his technical toolbox. Weegee: Society of the Spectacle aims to reconcile these two sides of Weegee through an investigation of his focus, throughout his career, on a critique of 20th century popular culture and its insatiable appetite for spectacle.
Weegee: Society of the Spectacle is curated by Clément Chéroux, Director of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson (FHCB), Paris, in collaboration with the Weegee Archive at the International Center of Photography (ICP), New York. The exhibition opens at ICP after a run at the FHCB and the Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid. The exhibition will be accompanied by the publication Weegee: Society of the Spectacle (Thames & Hudson).
THE PHOTOGRAPHER:Weegee
(1899 - 1968) American (b. Austria)
Weegee, born Usher Fellig on June 12, 1899, in the town of Lemburg (now in Ukraine), first worked as a photographer at age fourteen, three years after his family immigrated to the United States, where his first name was changed to the more American-sounding Arthur. Self-taught, he held many other photography-related jobs before gaining regular employment at a photography studio in lower Manhattan in 1918. This job led him to work at a variety of newspapers until, in 1935, he became a freelance news photographer. He centered his practice around police headquarters and in 1938 obtained permission to install a police radio in his car. This allowed him to take the first and most sensational photographs of news events and offer them for sale to publications such as the Herald-Tribune, Daily News, Post, the Sun, and PM Weekly, among others. During the 1940s, Weegee's photographs appeared outside the mainstream press and met success there as well. New York's Photo League held an exhibition of his work in 1941, and the Museum of Modern Art began collecting his work and exhibited it in 1943. Weegee published his photographs in several books, including Naked City (1945), Weegee's People (1946), and Naked Hollywood (1953). After moving to Hollywood in 1947, he devoted most of his energy to making 16-millimeter films and photographs for his "Distortions" series, a project that resulted in experimental portraits of celebrities and political figures. He returned to New York in 1952 and lectured and wrote about photography until his death on December 26, 1968.
Weegee's photographic oeuvre is unusual in that it was successful in the popular media and respected by the fine art community during his lifetime. His ability to navigate between these two realms–crime scene photography and high art–comes from the strong emotional connection forged between the viewer and the characters in his photographs, as well as from Weegee's skill at choosing the most telling and significant moments of the events he photographed. Among eminent 20th-century photographers, Weegee stands out for his ability to capture raw and powerful images that resonated with both the public and critics.
THE LOCATION
International Center of Photography
84 Ludlow Street, New York, NY 10002.
