Coney Island Beach

Weegee

1940

Aerial photograph of hundreds of people crowded together on beach with amusement park in background.
Please login or register for free access to Posen Library
Register
Already have an account?
Engage with this Source

Creator Bio

Weegee

1899–1968

Born in Lemberg (present-day L’viv, Ukraine), photojournalist Usher Fellig began his career as an adolescent, working photography-related jobs in New York to help support his family. Fellig, whose first name was changed from Usher to Arthur upon his immigration to the United States, later became known under the pseudonym Weegee, a phonetic spelling of Ouija, alluding to his seemingly prescient ability to arrive at crime scenes with his camera in hand. As a freelance photographer, Fellig found popular success with his sensational news photos. At the same time, he was respected in fine-art circles, exhibiting his work with New York’s Photo League and at the Museum of Modern Art. Fellig produced several photo books, in addition to writing and lecturing about photography.

You may also like

Partially reconstructed storage jar with painting of lion and two ibexes eating flora of a tree.
Tooltip info icon

Two Ibexes

In this detail from the left side of a pithos (storage jar) from Kuntillet Ajrud, two ibexes are eating the flora of a schematic tree, all set above a striding lion. These common motifs are typically…
View Source
Photograph of man in a skullcap kneeling next to a child sitting in a wooden chair on boat deck, gazing into the distance to the left of the viewer.
Tooltip info icon

Coming to America

Louis Stettner took this picture on his way back to the United States, after spending several years in Paris studying photography and exhibiting his work. The man and two children on the deck of a…
View Source

Miriam

Recently, Jewish feminists have turned toward the biblical figure of Miriam to expand women’s place in Jewish traditions. Penina Moïse anticipated the potential innovative role Miriam might play.
View Source