Gallery
New York Noir: Crime Photos from the Daily News
Grisly, ghastly, gorgeous photographs capture the faces of this century's
most violent criminals and their unfortunate victims.
In the gritty dark of night, a flashbulb goes off, freezing for all time the grisly remains of a woman shot dead, while her husband and murderer sits inconsolable in handcuffs. The cops hover unseen behind the anonymous photographer who has just shot another tabloid sensation that will shock the nation — at least until the next day, when another once obscure petty criminal will get his chance for his 24 hours of fame.
The photographs taken in the mean streets of New York went from mundane to legendary in 1945 when Weegee, the most famous and self-glorifying of these ubiquitous chroniclers, published a collection called Naked City. But there were dozens of other photographers equally talented in the art of getting the visual scoop.
New York Noir collects over 100 of these now-famous images, snapshots of the dead and bleeding who stumbled onto the police blotter, and onto the front page. Tamer than most similar collections, New York Noir focuses on the art of the photographs as much as their contents, emphasizing the influence they had on movies and photographers who later went to great lengths to recreate their style. But pretty packaging doesn’t take away from the grim reality that are still America’s ugliest moments captured on film.
New York Noir: Crime Photos from the Daily News Archive
ISBN: 0847821722; (October 1999)
Subject: Murder, Mass Media - Newspapers, Photo Essays, History, Crime, Criminals, Organized crime
New York City, NY
