For Naked City, his first collection, Weegee cruised the streets of 1940s New York in the wee hours in search of the sensational. Lewd, louche, licentious but always brimming with life (except when brimming with death), Weegee's photographs have endured decades of modern art criticism and are again enjoying a much-deserved cult revival.
Naked City (Da Capo Paperback)
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"If it bleeds, it leads" -- the cynical battle cry of today's tabloids -- might easily have been the motto of Arthur Fellig, the freelance photojournalist better known as Weegee, who cruised the streets of 1940s New York in the wee hours of the morning in search of the sensational. His pictures of children sleeping on fire escapes, blood-splattered corpses on sidewalks and amorous couples on the beach -- as seen in this reprint of his first book -- reveal that Weegee, unlike his latter day counterparts, had heart and soul. He also had a cockeyed sense of humor, as evidenced by his captions and camera tips.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Weegee (1900-1968), born Arthur Fellig, is credited with ushering in the age of tabloid culture and revered for elevating the sordid side of human life to the level of high art.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Weegee knew what kind of photos the editors of the New York daily tabloids wanted, in-your-face gutsy black and whites to capture the reader's imagination over the breakfast table. He always delivered too. This reprint of his 1945 book captures the energy of the Big Apple and yet there are no shots of skyscrapers. Instead the (mostly) ordinary folk of the city are shown getting on with their lives and deaths.
Many of the photos are taken at night, a Weegee trademark. Inside buildings he used infrared film so he could shoot in near blackness and capture his subjects displaying emotions they would hide, had they known a camera was about. Out on the street he captured the latest human tragedy in stark close-up with a blinding flash of his Speed Graphic camera.
The contents of this book are an amazing selection of photos but I was very disappointed by the reproduction, so only three stars. As far as I can tell, the photos have been scanned from the 1945 book rather than from original prints. The paper is coarse which doesn't help the reproduction either. This looks not much better than a book of photocopies. Far better I think to go for Miles Barth's Weegee's World. Although it does not have every photo from 'Naked City', the 250 included are printed as duotones on glossy paper, I particularly like this book because it shows many photos as original un-cropped prints. For instance, in his famous photo, 'The Critic' the three bystanders to the left of the two socialites are usually cropped out but here you can see how great the original was. This book also has three excellent essays about Weegee and his influence on other photographers in the Forties.
Another choice might be Weegee's New York Photographs, 1935-1960 with 335 photos from 1935 to 1960 and like the Barth book it is large size and beautifully printed (the photos are duotones) on glossy paper and could possibly have all the photos in Naked City.
Many of the photos are taken at night, a Weegee trademark. Inside buildings he used infrared film so he could shoot in near blackness and capture his subjects displaying emotions they would hide, had they known a camera was about. Out on the street he captured the latest human tragedy in stark close-up with a blinding flash of his Speed Graphic camera.
The contents of this book are an amazing selection of photos but I was very disappointed by the reproduction, so only three stars. As far as I can tell, the photos have been scanned from the 1945 book rather than from original prints. The paper is coarse which doesn't help the reproduction either. This looks not much better than a book of photocopies. Far better I think to go for Miles Barth's Weegee's World. Although it does not have every photo from 'Naked City', the 250 included are printed as duotones on glossy paper, I particularly like this book because it shows many photos as original un-cropped prints. For instance, in his famous photo, 'The Critic' the three bystanders to the left of the two socialites are usually cropped out but here you can see how great the original was. This book also has three excellent essays about Weegee and his influence on other photographers in the Forties.
Another choice might be Weegee's New York Photographs, 1935-1960 with 335 photos from 1935 to 1960 and like the Barth book it is large size and beautifully printed (the photos are duotones) on glossy paper and could possibly have all the photos in Naked City.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Poor paper quality makes the photographic reproductions look like bad photocopies. I was very disappointed.
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A fine selection of Weegee's unposed, spontaneous vignettes of life in the city, at least, as it was in the 30's and 40's, equivalent of today's TV "fuzz and the wuzz". His accompanying commentary, unghosted and punchy, mirrors the b/w images; snappy, to the point. The paper stock used here is cheap, but then, these photos usually appeared in the morning paper...in a time when there were newspapers.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Naked City
This is a classic book and WEEGEE's photos are wonderful. But the quality of production in this book is in a word awful.
Published 7 days ago by Bayard Bigelow III
Astoundingly bad print quality
Avoid buying the Da Capo paperback. The print quality is like a cheap photocopier running out of toner. Read more
Published 3 months ago by M. Needlman
Photo reproduction is terrible
Beware that if you are looking for a book with info and a decent representation of Weegee's photography, this is not the book for you. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Rob B
Reprint of historic photobook from the 40s
This is a small-format (non-coffee-table) book containing a representative selection of Weegees typical photos of New York tragedies (mostly) of the 20s, 30s and 40s, together with... Read more
Published on March 31, 2010 by John Lloyd
Terrible print quality ruins a new york great.
It is such a shame that the atrocious print quality ruins what could have been an excellent publication. Read more
Published on October 16, 2009 by Mr. Edward J. Major
Weegee is rolling over in his grave
The photos from the original are some of the greatest ever made. It's criminal to see them reproduced in such a low-quality manner. Read more
Published on December 11, 2008 by electricamerman
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
This is the most peaceful time of the whole week. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Madison Square Garden, Times Building New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
This is the most peaceful time of the whole week. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Madison Square Garden, Times Building New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
45
books
cite this book:
See all 45 books citing this book
- Cop Knowledge: Police Power and Cultural Narrative in Twentieth-Century America by Christopher P. Wilson on 13 pages
- An Introduction to Visual Culture by Nicholas Mirzoeff on 4 pages
- New York: Capital of Photography by Mr Max Kozloff on page 32, page 195, and Back Matter
- Theatre/Archaeology by Mike Pearson on page 178, and Back Matter
- Manhattan '45 by Jan Morris on page 150, and page 151
See all 45 books citing this book
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