Leiden University Student Repository

Choi, Jeonglee (2023)

Public Fascination in Death and Violence Through Weegee’s Urban Photography

Bachelor thesis | Kunstgeschiedenis (BA)

There has always been a fascination in death and violence present in our society. From public execution to war films, our society gathered around death as a form of entertainment. Photographs by Weegee uncovered this fascination and he exaggerated it using various photographic techniques. Portraying the period of socioeconomic struggle of post-war America, his photographs exposed the raw human emotions which emanates from witnessing the extremity of murders. Weegee captured the process of individuals’ pains turning into the spectacle of the public through “Their First Murder” and “Balcony Seats At A Murder”. Us, as the viewers, then view the subjects depicted in the photograph as a spectacle, creating a chain of gaze. Using theories of Susan Sontag, Mark Seltzer, and the politics of gaze, the essay will investigate the intention behind Weegee’s exaggerated representation of his subject.

Photography

Death

Voyeurism

Wound Culture

Spectatorship

Author

Choi, Jeonglee

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Arts, Media and Society

Supervisors

L.B.Davis + S.M.M.Moine

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en