Weegee at ICP – Photographing Crime and Celebrities

Posted on February 19, 2025 by Charlene Giannetti in Playing Around

Ascher Fellig was born on June 12, 1899, in Ukraine, but had his name changed to Arthur after he came to New York with his family in 1909. There are various stories about how his pseudonym Weegee came about. He did use a squeegee to wipe down prints, but he also had an uncanny ability to show up at crime scenes, a trick that seemed to conjure up the magic of a ouija board. Weegee’s career went through several phases. He followed up his focus on crime with an obsession with crowds and then celebrities. A new exhibition at the International Center of Photography covers all aspects of his work.

Weegee worked for Acme Newspictures (later United Press International Photos), before becoming a freelance photographer in 1935. Aided by a police radio, Weegee was often the first to photograph the latest accident, fire, or murder.

Part One of the ICP show, “The Spectacle of the News,” includes many of Weegee’s most iconic photos. If there were gruesome shots in Weegee’s archive, they have been left out of this exhibition. Dead bodies are covered by blankets or tarps. Rather than highlight the victim of an auto accident, Weegee zeroed in on a lone shoe caught under the car’s tire.

At some point, Weegee began to turn his camera onto those watching events unfold rather than the scene itself. These photos, in Part Two’s “The Society of Spectators,” are fascinating, catching the horror on some faces looking at a disaster, and, in other cases, the joyful expressions of both adults and children watching circus performers. 

In the third section, “Hollywood Distortions,” Weegee has fun transforming well known celebrities into exaggerated caricatures, stretching their features into images that are still recognizable, yet playing with the spotlight of fame. The four Beatles have their hair and heads enlarged, while JFK’s teeth take over his face. Even the Mona Lisa doesn’t escape Weegee’s technique, showing up in several photos that play up her famous smile.

Weegee: Society of the Spectacle
International Center of Photography
84 Ludlow Street
Through May 5, 2025

Photos by Woman Around Town

About Charlene Giannetti (778 Articles)
Charlene Giannetti, editor of Woman Around Town, is the recipient of seven awards from the New York Press Club for articles that have appeared on the website. A graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Charlene began her career working for a newspaper in Pennsylvania, then wrote for several publications in Washington covering environment and energy policy. In New York, she was an editor at Business Week magazine and her articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines. She is the author of 13 non-fiction books, eight for parents of young adolescents written with Margaret Sagarese, including "The Roller-Coaster Years," "Cliques," and "Boy Crazy." She and Margaret have been keynote speakers at many events and have appeared on the Today Show, CBS Morning, FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and many others. Her last book, "The Plantations of Virginia," written with Jai Williams, was published by Globe Pequot Press in February, 2017. Her podcast, WAT-CAST, interviewing men and women making news, is available on Soundcloud and on iTunes. She is one of the producers for the film "Life After You," focusing on the opioid/heroin crisis that had its premiere at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, where it won two awards. The film is now available to view on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and other services. Charlene and her husband live in Manhattan.

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