Gangland murders, gruesome car crashes and perilous tenement fires were the staples of Weegee’s flashlit black-andwhite
work as a freelance press photographer in the mid 1930s. These graphic and sometimes sensationalistic photos
of New York crimes and news events set the standard for what has since become known as tabloid journalism.
Taking its title from Weegee’s self curated exhibition at the Photo League in 1941, Murder Is My Business examines
the urban violence and mayhem that was the focus of his early work. Challenged to capture unique images of
newsworthy events and distribute them quickly, Weegee would listen to his police band radio receiver for news of fresh
crimes and often arrive at crime scenes before the police themselves, allowing him to case each scene and create the
best composition. Murders, he claimed, were the easiest to photograph because the subjects never moved or became
temperamental.
Murder Is My Business features Weegee’s most famous images in the context of their original presentation in period
newspapers and exhibitions, as well as Weegee’s own books and films. The book also presents case studies of various
crimes photographed by Weegee including original documents from police dossiers, and partial reconstructions of
Weegee’s studio and his Photo League exhibition.
Weegee (Arthur Fellig, 1899–1968) is best known for his tabloid news photos of urban crowds, crime scenes and
New York City nightlife of the 1930s and 1940s. Between 1935 and 1946, Weegee was perhaps the most relentlessly
inventive figure in American photography. Weegee later dedicated himself to what he called “creative photography”,
images made through distorting lenses and other optical effects. He also made short films and collaborated with film
directors such as Jack Donohue and Stanley Kubrick, as a special-effects consultant and still photographer.
Murder Is My Business
von Brian Wallis, Weegee
