Weegee

Offering a new perspective on Weegees oeuvre, Society of the Spectacle presents the photographers iconic images alongside lesser-known works. Weegees macabre tabloid photographs of murdered gangsters, bodies trapped in crashed cars, slums consumed by fire, and other poignant records of New Yorks nocturnal low life in the 1930s and 40s are the stuff of legend. Lesser-known, however, is the work he created in his later years, when he satirized Hollywood, mocking its fleeting glory, jubilant crowds, and social scenes, and created celebrity portraits that he delighted in distorting using a palette of technical tricks. And herein lies the paradox of Weegee: how can two such wildly different bodies of work co-exist? Offering the first evaluation of the famed photographers career in its entirety, this book reconciles the two sides of Weegee by showing how the spectacle was the unifying theme of his work. Over 130 images, some iconic, some more rarely seen, are accompanied by essays that explore the consistent themes throughout Weegees career, his documentary and photojournalism work, and his last great series taken on the set of Stanley Kubricks 1964 film Dr. Strangelove.