Born 1899, Zloczow, Austria-Hungary (later Poland, now Zolochiv, Ukraine)
Died 1968, New York City


Usher Fellig was born in Austrian Galicia. He immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of ten, growing up on the Lower East Side (and changing his name to Arthur). For ten years he worked as a photographer at a news photography agency (1925–35). He got the nickname Weegee from the phonetic spelling of Ouija: his uncanny ability to find a story and to arrive at the scene of a crime before any other reporter was likened to the miraculous powers of a Ouija board. From 1935 to 1945 he worked as a freelance photojournalist, selling his unflinchingly realistic images of crimes and human drama to newspapers and photograph syndicates. He worked for PM magazine from 1940 to 1945 and joined the Photo League in 1941. There he lectured, taught courses, and had his first gallery exhibition (1941). His first book of photographs, Naked City (1945), was made into an Oscar-winning film (1948). Hollywood employed him as a special-effects consultant between 1947 and 1952; he also served as an extra in several movies. Weegee's later photographic work included distorted portraits of celebrities and political figures, which he called "caricatures." These first appeared in Vogue (1955). Weegee by Weegee, his autobiography, was published in 1961. Since his death he has been the subject of numerous solo and group exhibitions, including a major retrospective, "Weegee's World," at the International Center of Photography, New York (1997–98).