Contained within nearly every frame of a Weegee photo are the stark contradictions that defined his public persona and give his images such weight: mechanical Chiaroscuro lighting provided by the unforgiving flashbulbs, illuminated scenes of intense grief alongside ironic detachment. Weegee himself (AKA Arthur Fellig) was a rumpled, striving immigrant who developed his public persona meticulously, projecting an image equal parts hard-boiled and bleeding heart. The man who seemed to take morbid delight in creating ironic juxtapositions around dead bodies (A movie marquee advertised “Joy of Living” as a backdrop to a corpse) also captured the common put-upon working-class New York residents with deeply felt empathy. In Weegee’s world, slain gangsters are kicked while they’re down, while neighborhood children-huddled together on tenement fire escapes-are portrayed as dirty angels. ‘Their First Murder’ is a startling work that is an example of the photographer’s masterful use of the reaction shot to convey the range of emotions, as compassion and callousness stand elbow to elbow in the same frame. His photos graced the pages of greasy tabloids and hung on gallery walls, at home in both settings, a testament to a picture-perfect rendering of emotional depth and aesthetic composition that transcends genre, epoch, and medium.

Critical Mob