Meet Weegee

Read About the Photographer Weegee (Arthur Fellig)

As legend tells it, Arthur Fellig earned the nickname “Weegee” during his early career as a freelance press photographer in New York City. His sixth sense for crime often led him to a scene well ahead of the police. Observers likened this sense (which actually came from tuning his radio to the police radio frequency) to a Ouija board, the popular fortune-telling game. Spelling “Ouija” phonetically, “Weegee” became Fellig’s professional name as a photographer.

His subjects ranged from wild-eyed adolescent onlookers at a late-night gangland slaying, to glassy-eyed starlets at Hollywood movie premieres. Weegee could be considered one of the first “ambulance chasers.” He also worked in Hollywood as a filmmaker, performer, and technical consultant.

Weegee was as flamboyant as some of his subjects, creating his own mythology, reveling in his own acclaim as well as that of his subjects—and even stamping the backs of his pictures with “Credit Photo by Weegee the Famous.”

Questions

Write or discuss your responses.

• How did Weegee create his own “mythology” or public image? Use specific examples from the text to explain how he promoted himself and his work.
• The text describes Weegee as one of the first “ambulance chasers.” What does this term suggest about his approach to photography? Do you think this type of photography serves an important purpose, or does it raise ethical concerns?