[Outline of a Murder Victim]

Weegee American, born Austria-Hungary

1942

Not on view

Working as a freelance press photographer in New York City during the mid-1930s and 1940s, Weegee achieved notoriety through sensational photographs of a crime-ridden metropolis. Although his nickname derived from an earlier job as a "squeegee boy" drying photographic prints in a professional darkroom, through brazen self-styling he designated himself a human Ouija board, who always seemed to know where the next big scoop would be. In fact, he lived across the street from police headquarters and used a department-issued radio. Here, Weegee distills the genre of the crime scene photograph into a minimalist trace: the camera’s flashbulb illuminates a hastily drawn chalk outline bearing the stark label "HEAD."

Artwork Details

Title: [Outline of a Murder Victim]
Artist: Weegee (American (born Austria-Hungary), Złoczów (Zolochiv, Ukraine) 1899–1968 New York)
Date: 1942
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 33.9 x 27.4 cm. (13 3/6 x 10 13/16 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Gift of Bruce A. Kirstein, in memory of Marc S. Kirstein, 1978
Object Number: 1978.616.6
Rights and Reproduction: © Weegee / International Center of Photography.
Curatorial Department: Photographs

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