When photographer Arthur Fellig , aka Weegee, wasn't shooting crime scenes, he was turning his lens towards happier moments around the city. In the mid-1940s, he photographed movie theatergoers, engulfed in the entertainment flickering on the screen... or in each other. The International Center of Photography has loaned out 14 of those images to newly reopened Bow Tie Cinemas in Chelsea for a mini-exhibit, which is running through June 14th.
"The photographs are part of a series Weegee made in New York City theaters in the mid-1940s with infrared film. From bemused children to entwined couples, lonely sleepers to exhilarated teenage girls, this gallery of portraits constitutes a powerful, unique, and moving tribute to cinema lovers. The passion conveyed in these images—their lyricism, magic, and poetry—remind us of the quintessential role played by the arts, and specifically still and moving images, in our society."
He still managed to make it all look a little dark though, no?
Courtesy of the International Center of Photography">Weegee/International Center of Photography
This is just a small selection of their Weegee archive, the largest around, containing nearly 20,000 prints, negatives, tear sheets, manuscript drafts, correspondence, and other
personal memorabilia. [via Untapped Cities]
