The Critic

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The Critic

Artist Arthur Fellig (American, 1899 - 1968)

Date1943

DimensionsOverall: 11 x 13 7/8 in. (27.9 x 35.2 cm)

MediumGelatin-silver print

ClassificationPhotographs

Credit LinePurchased with funds given by an anonymous donor

Object number

1976.132

Not on View

Label TextKnown primarily for his raw black and white documentary photography, Arthur Fellig generally worked the Lower East Side of New York City. His uncanny ability to arrive at the scene of a crime earned him the nickname Weegee (a phonetic spelling of the “spirit conjuring” divination game Ouija). His quick arrival at accidents, fires, shoot-outs, and arrests had little to do with premonition however. He was one of the very few who had access to a portable police-band shortwave radio. This print displays another aspect of Weegee’s photographic wizardry. When it was first published in Life magazine in 1943, it was titled, “The Fashionable People.” Weegee renamed it “The Critic” when he published it in his own book Naked City. It documents the opening of the Metropolitan Opera in 1943 during a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the company. Weegee achieved the strong contrasts in this ‘staged’ photograph (he surreptitiously positioned the inebriated woman on the right) using a basic press camera (4 x 5 Speed Graphic) with flash bulbs and a set focus.Exhibition HistoryTMA, Jan 22 - June 8, 1999 Images From America Sept./Oct. 1995