- Title
- The Joy of Living
- Date Made
- circa 1940
- Medium
- Gelatin-silver print
- Dimensions
- Image: 6 5/8 × 4 5/8 in. (16.83 × 11.75 cm)
Primary support: 7 1/16 × 5 in. (17.94 × 12.7 cm)
Mat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.64 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2000.39.2
- Collecting Area
- Photography
- Curatorial Notes
Arthur Fellig—known as Weegee, possibly a phonetic spelling of Ouija for his sixth sense in knowing when something newsworthy would occur—shows a crime scene in which a policeman covers a dead body that is hidden under a layer of newspapers on a trash-lined curb. The bright light of the flash illuminates the scene. The faces of the policemen and onlookers are whited out by the flash; their presence is not described in detail but merely recorded. Figures are cropped out on the left and right sides of the frame, capturing the tension and chaos of this gruesome moment.
