Flash: The Making of Weegee the Famous

An interesting portrait of a artist as anti-artist who lived the life on his subjects and related events, elevating the milieu to in many instances high art. Weegie was without knowing it (or perhaps knowing all along) was helping to shape through his photography a multi-faceted culture of inner city lives and events that would have been lost and/or devoid of honor and integrity if not for his creative mind and humanistic, earthen soul. In his later years when he diverged across many different visual and cultural domains, we see the essence of an iconoclast and an original who manipulated and was manipulated by the shifting of the times that define the present for better or worse while relegating the past as both a bygone era and forcing one to realize that they are no longer relevant and thus forgotten, despite efforts and energies to the contrary.Weegie was a complex man made up of a broken mosaic held loosely together by a single personal dynamic to visualize and record lives and a world that reflected an equally broken mosaic loosely held together by the tumult of humanity.

This is a well-written and vivid biography of one of the hardest-working professional photographers of the 20th Century. This is also the story of a man who was incredibly skilled at news photography and pursued what is now known as personal branding to an extreme degree, going from admirable hustler Arthur Fellig to boastful and overbearing Weegee. It's a complex story, following Weegee's rise from fairly low-status jobs in newspaper darkrooms to becoming the premier crime photographer in the United States in the 1940s, and then onwards to his seduction into Hollywood and his descent into trick photography and questionable outre projects.Throughout, while author Christopher Bonanos gladly debunks many of Weegee's oft-repeated self-mythologizing, he also lends a considerable amount of sympathy to a largely self-educated immigrant whose appearance, accent, and lack of WASP decorum led to him being a punchline to many mainstreamers even at the height of his fame. This never devolves into armchair psychoanalysis, but one gets the sense from reading this book that much of Weegee's pushiness and misogyny were covers for a deep-seated loneliness. He certainly comes across as misunderstood, and seems to have been a man whose work was primarily his life.Truth be told, Weegee is a very hard figure to get a handle on, and it hasn't gotten easier with the many Weegee museum retrospectives over the past 20 years. But Bonanos is the first I've read who doesn't try to make the claim that everything Weegee did was high art, or that he was the "American Brassai" or other high-sounding claims. Bonanos gives enough room in most chapters for Weegee to breathe, and places him within the context of changing trends in newspaper and magazine publication in the United States. I can't say that I feel as though I finally know Weegee, but I certainly feel much closer to his essence than I did seeing his old photos at several gallery shows.One important last note. While many Weegee photos are reproduced in this book, the reproductions themselves are not of the highest quality. This is a biography, not an art book. If you're looking for a coffee table book of Weegee's crime photos, you'll have to go elsewhere. But if you're looking for a true biography of the man, this is the only show in town.

This book is a must for anybody who is interested in the history of American photography and journalism.Beautifully written, it tells the touching, gross, and hilarious story of a true original: a guy with a camera - and an approach to using it - that was unique then and continues to be so.Author Bonanos not only gives us a close-up of Weegee's work but also both his inner and outer lives.And although the shutterbug is kind of a bum, the writer never talks down to his subject.Enjoyed it immensely.

Simply put, this is a wonderful book. Extremely well written, comprehensive, not sympathetic but empathetic given the time period and environment that Weegee lived in. It’s so nice to read a truthful biography of someone from an earlier period without overlays of condescension based on “today’s standards”. Mr. Bonanos has crafted a true picture of a photography icon and documented the hard work and dedication he brought to becoming successful in a difficult environment. If you like pre and post WWII era NYC history, buy this book. If you like general photography history, buy this book. If you like street photography, buy this book NOW. If you just like a well written and researched biography, buy this book. If you’ve read this far, get the book. You won’t be disappointed!!

Nothing is perfect, but this book digs pretty deep into the life and mystique of Weegee and comes close to that elusive goal of perfection. Highly recommended.Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection

It's that true situation where "TRUTH is STRANGER than FICTION"! There's a great movie based on this amazing tale as well as several more books, including Weegee's own autobiography, and everything simply works to fill out more about Weegee's amazing and touching story. A warning though---this can all become extremely intoxicating! The truth is like that......

As a New Yorker that's seen and heard just about every classic New York Story, Christopher Bonanos's "FLASH: The Making of WEEGEE THE FAMOUS" is as fresh and charming a story as I've read in years. It's actually amazing there hasn't already been a biography written about one of the most iconic and eccentric news photographers of the golden age of newspapers. Mr. Bonanos clearly has done extensive research into the man and his passion for telling the visual stories of countless New Yorkers with a million stories to tell. The writing is witty, informed and confident. I particularly appreciated the background on what was happening in NYC politically, economically, socially through Prohibition, the Great Depression and beyond, all the while WEEGEE (Arthur Fellig) was making an international name for himself navigating the red tape and fierce competition in the world of journalism. "FLASH: The Making of WEEGEE THE FAMOUS" would make a fantastic film. Kudos!

I have almost finished this excellent book. It is a very entertaining look at a very interesting man living in interesting times. I have long been a fan of Weegee's work. Highly recommend this book to his fans, those interested in the beginnings of photojournalism and of early to mid century New York and Hollywood.