The International Center of Photography (ICP) is set to open its first major exhibition of 2025 with Weegee: Society of the Spectacle – an exploration of the photographer’s fascination with crime, celebrity and the voyeuristic tendencies of society. Curated by Clément Chéroux, director of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, the exhibition draws heavily from ICP’s extensive Weegee archive – the most comprehensive in the world.
Weegee, born Arthur Fellig, became synonymous with gritty New York City street scenes in the 1930s and 1940s. His dramatic, high-contrast images, captured with a Speed Graphic camera and his signature flashbulb, brought the city’s chaotic nightlife into stark focus. More than a technical tool, his flash became a defining aesthetic, illuminating both the dark streets of New York and the harsh realities of urban life.
