LETTER FROM NEW YORK

PHOTO ESSAY

Shot in the Dark

A new exhibition focuses on the lesser-known photos of the late, great Weegee

By Lauren Mechling
July 26, 2006

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Cinderella Ball (1941).

Weegee took a great many society portraits like this one, from the Cinderella Ball. The dancer was a European ballerina who had just come to New York. “It’s a magical composition,” Young says. “He looked at her and saw a dancer who is turning into a bird.” With a few exceptions, including this photograph, most of Weegee’s pictures from fancy parties transmit an iciness. He seemed to like everybody except for New York’s high society; sometimes he used special lights to bring out rich people’s wrinkles and dental problems.