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
 Woman Signing Autographs in Car (c. 1948). |
This picture illustrates Weegee’s abiding interest in watching others watch. The unknown starlet seems lifeless in contrast to her energetic fans, who reflect Weegee’s giddy enthusiasm for life. When the photographer Edward Steichen championed Weegee in a show he curated at the Museum of Modern Art in 1948, Weegee’s career reached its apex. He left PM to freelance for glossy magazines, and he even tried his hand at cinematography in Hollywood. It backfired, and he returned to New York three years later. Instead of revisiting its streets, though, he became interested in trick photography and he wrote two guidebooks on the subject. He also dabbled in nude photography and wrote an autobiography, Weegee on Weegee. In his later years, he suffered from diabetes, and died of a brain tumor in 1968.
Unknown Weegee is on display at New York’s International Center of Photography until August 27.
Lauren Mechling is a New York writer. She is the co-author of the 10th Grade Social Climber series.
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