Weegee - Sammy's
Sammy's was the scene of many of Weegee's most lighthearted and humanistic photographs, a great contrast to what was taking place on the street or curb or just outside the front door. The "poor man's Stork Club" became a refuge for Weegee, a safe haven allowing him to escape the blood and guts that his more salable photographs contained.
These iconic images show some of the cabaret's famous faces, which appear regularly in Weegee's crime photographs.
These images were shot in portrait to show a more personal connection with the person and focus on that particular part of the image.
The photographs show the care-free attitude of the club and communicate a different, light hearted side to Weegee. Also, i like that he showed a larger looking woman in a beauty-shot way, contrary to 40's hollywood beauty's.
Since Weegee came from a working class background, i think he wanted to show working class people in a positive way and he achieves this by showing happiness and joy.
These images were for the newspaper that he worked for at the time.
Bibliography
www.museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/
www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2009/november/weegee
Sammy's was the scene of many of Weegee's most lighthearted and humanistic photographs, a great contrast to what was taking place on the street or curb or just outside the front door. The "poor man's Stork Club" became a refuge for Weegee, a safe haven allowing him to escape the blood and guts that his more salable photographs contained.
These iconic images show some of the cabaret's famous faces, which appear regularly in Weegee's crime photographs.
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| Norma Devine is Sammy's Mae West, December 4, 1944 |
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| December 4, 1944 |
The photographs show the care-free attitude of the club and communicate a different, light hearted side to Weegee. Also, i like that he showed a larger looking woman in a beauty-shot way, contrary to 40's hollywood beauty's.
Weegee worked as a press photographer, though his photographs are now viewed as a mixture of art, documentary and photojournalism. Apparently his nickname (Weegee's real name was Arthur Fellig) was derived from the word ouija, due to his uncanny ability to arrive at a scene only minutes after a crime had taken place. Consquently Weegee's images reveal an unflinching image of life in the city that is often violent and distressing. Yet he also captured the carefree attitude of New York society life between the wars.
Weegee used the basic press photographer equipment of the time, which was a Graflek camera and blue flashbulbs, which give his work its stark graphic quality. He would develop his images via a makeshift darkroom in the trunk of his car, allowing him to deliver his freelance shots to the newspapers as quickly as possible.
The entertainers working at Sammy's bar are quite unusual. The oddball acts included singers, dancers and dwarfs. You an tell from these images that they are working class as they are trying to be like high society with fancy hats and clothing, but they still look shabby and cheap. I think the pictures communicate a theme and story of 'working class Hollywood'. I think they are successful in telling this story as the pictures are subtle in communication but are still strong images.Since Weegee came from a working class background, i think he wanted to show working class people in a positive way and he achieves this by showing happiness and joy.
These images were for the newspaper that he worked for at the time.
Bibliography
www.museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/
www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2009/november/weegee
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