Museum Home Past Exhibitions Scene of the Crime: Photo by Weegee

September 20, 2005–January 22, 2006 at the Getty Center

OverviewExhibitionEventsPublications
Cop Killer / Weegee

Selected from the Getty Museum's permanent collection, this exhibition surveys the news photography of Arthur Fellig, who became known in the 1930s as Weegee the Famous. Nicknamed after the Ouija board game, Weegee seemed to materialize wherever news was happening. With Speed Graphic camera and flashbulbs in hand, he covered all aspects of New York City nightlife in the 1930s and 1940s, selling his images by morning to the newspapers and international picture agencies. On the police beat, he stepped into scenes of accidents, arrests, fires, murders, and riots. He also took his camera to the opera and the circus, jazz concerts and Greenwich Village parties, Harlem and the Bowery.

In the image above, Weegee photographed Anthony Esposito, arrested for murdering a policeman, in the police station during booking.