Weegee's New York Postcard Book

WEEGEE'S NEW YORK is a small book that is 31 pages long, and that is printed on high-quality glossy cardboard. The pages are a little too thick and sturdy to be called paper, and so I think that "cardboard" might be more suitable. The first page is the title pages, and the remaining pages each contain one photograph that takes up the entire postcard-sized page. The rear of each page contains the title, location in New York City, and date, but with no commentary. The interior of the rear cover contains a biography of the artist. The binding appears to be such as to allow each page to be individually torn out and mailed as a postcard. I have not tested this, since I prefer to leave the pages intact. The quality of the reproductions is extremely high. Most of the photographs have backgrounds that are dark gray or black. But I suspect that some of the backgrounds were artificially blackened in the darkroom by WEEGEE. In particular, I suspect that the background in WOMAN CAB DRIVER AND MACY'S CLOWN (1942) was extensively darkened by the technique of "burning," as in, "dodging and burning."The front cover reproduces WEEGEE's photograph of several thousand people posing on CONEY ISLAND, and this same photograph appears inside the book. The photo is called, CROWD AT CONEY ISLAND (1940). A similar photograph, showing a crowd at a beach, is MUSCLE BEACH 1949 by Max Yavno, which is reproduced in THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF MAX YAVNO, text by Ben Maddow, and published by Univ. of California Press. Both of these beach photographs are icons of the photography genre. Both of these photographs are irresistibly attractive. Mr. Yavno's photograph is of greater artistic merit, because of the symmetrical aspects of the composition, e.g., the airborne woman, the child being supported in the air, and the couple in the foreground.SUMMER, THE LOWER EAST SIDE (1937) by WEEGEE discloses a fire hydrant at the left, spewing water, and three distinct clusters of children aligned from left to right. It is my understanding that the clustering of a collection of people into a plurality of distinct groups can provide artistic merit to a work of art. An example is LAS MENINAS by Diego Velazquez, which has been analyzed for its grouping of its human subjects. Regarding children playing in New York's streets, it is the case that HELEN LEVITT is more famed for this subject matter than is WEEGEE. However, WEEGEE's Summer, The Lower East Side is a beautiful photograph that compares favorably with any work of art created by Helen Levitt.SIMPLY ADD BOILING WATER (1937)by WEEGEE was taken at night, as were many of the photographs that are reproduced in this book. The photo shows a tall and narrow building on fire, with water spewing from firehoses. The photo is sensuous and pleasure-inducing, in the same manner as a photograph of a lily or a rose. However, the inducement of sensuous pleasure, without more, is certainly not enough to confer artistic merit to a photograph. (Countless millions of flower photographs have been produced, most of them totally devoid of any artistic merit.) However, artistic merit is produced by the fact that the photograph establishes a historic context (we se the old-fashioned fire escapes, and we see the old fashioned 1930s-style automobiles in the foreground) But most amazingly, is that a large billboard atop the flaming building reads, HYGRADE FRANKFURTERS, and a large sign at the midpoint of the building reads, SIMPLY ADD BOILING WATER. Thus, it is the case that further artistic merit is provided by the ironic and humor of the water added by the fire hoses, and by the sign that recommends adding water.WOMAN CAB DRIVER AND MACY'S CLOWN (1942) shows a 1930s-style automobile that is a taxi cab. The driver is a woman. The photo was taken in the twilight hours, or perhaps late at night. The sky is dark gray, and the buildings to the right and left of the street are jet black. To the right, and taking up the upper righthand corner of the photo is a large inflated hand made of rubber. The hand has only four fingers, and we see the arm, which is colored light gray. We can see three men, holding ropes that are tethered to the balloon float. The art critic wannabe would point out that the hand of the parade float makes this a great photograph, because of the fact that people waiting at the curb frequently stick out their hand, in a similar manner, when they want to flag down a taxi. In this way, the float is related to the taxi cab, and does not merely represent a structural element that is bizarre and amusing.GUNMAN KILLED BY OFF DUTY COP (1942) is the only photograph of somebody that has been murdered or killed. If you look carefully you can see a small amount of blood on the man's face. A gun lies on the sidewalk in the foreground. Apparently, the editors saw fit to include only one of WEEGEE's many photographs with bloody themes, I order to make the book more family oriented.BILLIE DAUSCHA AND MABELSIDNEY (1944) discloses a pair of obese ladies who are entertainers. Both of the ladies wear feathered hats. Both of the ladies wear bulky dark-hued dresses. One of the ladies has planted her foot on a chair in the nightclub, and the result is that her alabaster-white leg, and light-colored stocking, and silvery-colored high-heeled shoe, provide a strong element to the photograph, which other wise, is drenched in darker colors. A photograph with a similar theme is THE LEG (1949) by Max Yavno, which is a photograph of a 30-foot high statue of a woman's leg clothed in a silk stocking, and mounted outside on top of a small building. A nearby illuminated neon sign reads, "stockings by Sanderson." The rest of this particular photo is jet black.AFTER THE OPERA (1944) shows a man dressed in a formal suit, seated at a chair in a nightclub. In front of him is a round table, apparently used most often for drinks, coffee, or fingerfoods. However, in this photograph, what is sitting on the table is a small pig. A string seems to be attached to the pig, and so I guess that the pig is a live pig. The well-dressed man is stroking the pig with his right hand. Similar photographs of wealthy people in New York, at their parties, have been published by LARRY FINK. Please see his book, SOCIAL GRACES, published by Aperture.ACCIDENT ON GRAND CENTRAL STATION ROOF (1944) by WEEGEE is an astonishing photograph, taken at night (as usual). To the right are two illuminated old-style electric lights. At the foreground is a post that supports signs reading, "EAST 42ND STREET" and "ONE WAY." Just behind the post is Grand Central Station, and resting on a balcony of Grand Central Building is an automobile which appears to have been dropped out of the sky, and to have landed on the balcony. Just under the balcony one sees two men standing next to each other.

The man born Ascher Fellig in what is now Ukraine was reputedly the only press photographer in Manhattan in the 1930s and 1940s to keep a police scanner in his home. With the special insight granted by that radio, and armed with the legendary Speed Graphic camera, he developed an uncanny knack for showing up at accident and other "first-responder" scenes while they were still fresh. This apparent prescience led to his nickname "Weegee" (for Ouija Board), an appellation which he happily adopted and even exploited, developing a specialty in singling out the unusual, the graphic and grotesque.This book of thirty sturdy postcards is a good deal, and gruesome accidents are only a small part of it. The rest are divided about equally between the ironies caught by Weegee's camera (the side of a hot-dog factory mentions "boiling water" while under assault by fire-department water cannons), or the ironies of Gotham's social life (a bunch of toffs in what was then called a "paddy wagon" shield their faces with their top hats). Nobody will confuse this with Norman Rockwell or Ewing Galloway, but it is undeniably real, even in the posed shots. Not romantic, but more gritty than graphic for the most part. I plan to send the postcards to Postcrossing members who specifically ask for unusual or blunt B&W photographs. Recommended, but only if you know what you're in for.

Not really worth while!

Delighted to find these cards featuring the legendary Weegee's work. Was also happy to find that most of the cards are featuring "lighter" subject matter, that is to say, not just the gruesome crime scene photos which he is well known for (only one of those, and fairly mild). Very suitable for sending in the post without an envelope. There are many interesting and poignant 'street photography' portraits. They truly capture the times.

I bought this for my wedding since I wanted to use vintage New York postcards as my guestbook. I was really looking for interesting and unique postcards that weren't just the typical Empire State Building picture. Some of these photos are pretty "new york-y" but a lot are a little darker than I'd prefer at my wedding. Not saying the book is bad, just not exactly what I was looking for.

An American classic. All New York. Weegee sought out the excitement and emotion in his photos, on the streets of NY. It is a treasure to view.

Weeg is one of my favorite photographers and these postcards are pretty good. I would have liked more of his crime stuff, but I understand why there was more non-crime related photos. That being said, I love them.

Get these if you like to send postcards