Weegee – The Famous

1935 – 1960

Weegee‘s photographs form an impressive document of modern city life – in all its brutality, violence, and pitilessness. Through his photography, he recorded the traces the Great Depression of the 1930s and 40s left behind. No less drastic are his photographs of New York‘s high society. They constitute a sarcastic comment on the rich, which is also true for his pictures of famous people and Hollywood stars that he took in the 1950s and for which he used specific distorting lenses.
The intensity of his photographs results from a harsh realism and expressive arrangements. Weegee prefers using strong flash-lights to cause dramatic light shade effects and sharp b/w-contrasts. This had already been a typical feature of his work when, as a street photographer, he traveled through the East Side of New York with a pony to photograph children for a few cents.

Exhibition objects: 108 b/w photographs
Exhibition space: 400 sqm
Catalog: German

Exhibition venues:
Landesmuseum Oldenburg, Germany, January 24, 2004 – March 14, 2004
Museum im Schloss, Bad Arolsen, Germany, May 28, 2004 – July 25, 2004
Kulturamt Wiesbaden, Germany, August 30, 2004 – September 19, 2004
Museum Industriekultur, Nürnberg, Germany, October 02, 2004 – November 21, 2004
Albrecht Weißgerber Stiftung, St. Ingbert, Germany, November 28, 2004 – January 23, 2005
Kunsthalle Erfurt, Germany, January 30, 2005 – March 20, 2005
Georg-Meistermann-Museum, Wittlich, Germany, October 09, 2005 – January 15, 2006
Ludwig Galerie Schloss Oberhausen, Germany, May 26, 2013 – September 08, 2013
Hungarian House of Photography – Mai Manó House, Budapest, Hungary, October 18, 2018 – January 20, 2019

 

Easter Sunday in Harlem, ca. 1940

Installation view WEEGEE – THE FAMOUS, 1935–1960, Hungarian House of Photography – Mai Manó House, 18 October 2018 – 20 Januar 2019
© Hungarian House of Photography – Mai Manó House

Sleep is where you find it, 1941

Installation view WEEGEE – THE FAMOUS, 1935–1960, Hungarian House of Photography – Mai Manó House, 18 October 2018 – 20 Januar 2019
© Hungarian House of Photography – Mai Manó House

Bagel vendor, 1940

Installation view WEEGEE – THE FAMOUS, 1935–1960, Hungarian House of Photography – Mai Manó House, 18 October 2018 – 20 Januar 2019
© Hungarian House of Photography – Mai Manó House

The critic, 1943

 

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