Weegee. Autopsy of the Spectacle

From 19 September to 5 January 2025, Mapfre Foundation - Recoletos Exhibition Hall is hosting an exhibition of work by American photographer Arthur H. Fellig focused on the upper classes of California and the social life of big movie stars

The photographs taken of the underworld and the marginalised environments of New York at night in the 1930s and 1940s taken by the photographer Arthur H. Fellig (1899-1968), better known by the pseudonym Weegee, achieved great international prominence. 

However, the artist’s work related to his stint in Hollywood (1947-1951) centred on California’s upper class and movie stars failed to receive the same consideration. This exhibition aims to resolve this disparity, highlighting the importance and timeliness of that second period due to the way in which it expresses a criticism of “the society of spectacle”. It also focuses on continuity with the best-known part of Weegee’s work.

Arthur H. Fellig (Weegee) is known as a news photographer who specialised in documenting New York’s street life through his black and white photographs. In addition to portraying the ladies of New York high society dressed in their furs and tiaras, the artist’s work mainly depicted crime scenes and victims of traffic accidents. His alias Weegee is a phonetic interpretation of the word ouija, related to the fact that he often arrived on the scene only minutes after the authorities had been notified of a crime or other emergency.

Image credits:

Weegee. The Critic, November 22, 1942. © International Center of Photography. Collection Friedsam