Cop: “Can I help you?”
Frank Bigelow (Edmond O’Brien): “I want to report a murder.”
Cop: “Where was this murder committed?”
Bigelow: “San Francisco, last night.”
Cop: “Who was murdered?”
Bigelow: “I was.”
(from the quintessential, must-see San Francisco noir, D.O.A.)
One of the things that makes San Francisco especially appealing to me, as a resident, film goer and photographer, is the noir-ish mood that fills the city. Perhaps not as obvious on a sunny day, but the mood is still there if you know where to look. Our city has such a rich literary and cinematic tradition of influencing great noir, not to mention that it’s home to the Film Noir Foundation that hosts the world-class Noir City Film Festival each January — during our coldest, rainiest, fog-filled month.
You might only see a flattened ladies’ boot in this image, a lonely strange discard. I see a Weegee tableau: flash bulbs snapping, police tape fluttering.
(A funny aside, as I was looking for a Weegee link, one of the photos I saw in a NY Times essay on him pictured a man’s shoe wedged under a car’s front tire.)
Updated 11:23am: Just found a youtube link for the entire film of DOA!
Love the image and processing!
I like how contrasty and day-to-night looking it is.
Even though I believe a photo should take you somewhere, or suggest something to you that you don’t need to hear I do also love hearing the thought process behind photos. Yours really illuminates where you were going with it, although certainly your composition and processing of it took me there anyway. A good challenge might be to try and get some Weegee-like shots on Halloween, when the abundance of costumed people might actually make it harder rather than easier!
I’ve been doing a lot more mental archaeology lately in choosing the photos I want to share and then deciding why I like them. I have to say that I’m not really aware of why I take the photos when I do, but it all seems to make sense later after I really sit down and think about it for a minute.
We will be having our photowalk on Halloween so costumed or not, denizens of downtown will give me ample opportunity for another Weegee tribute photo. Thanks for the comment.
My wife’s friend is having a 30′s themed safe-cracking party (each apt in her building has a safe – it was built by corrupt mayor of Jersey City Frank Hague) this Halloween. I just found my costume – 30′s press photog! Thanks for the comment and visit to our blog Julie.
Hi Ed,
I hope you’ll post a photo of your Halloween costume as an ace photog! I’m with you… after I wrote this post, I nixed my original Halloween costume idea and now will emulate a gun moll or bad girl. Maybe a Linda Darnell circa Fallen Angel look-alike.
caught this at the Online Photographer the other day…. http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2009/10/graflex-graphic.html …. you might have seen it …
That’s an interesting link… I hadn’t seen it! Thanks for sharing.
Oh .. I forgot … great shot too……
Thank you.
[...] as gangsters, gun molls, flappers, thieves, crooked politicians, etc. Inspired by a recent post by Julie over at Caliber that cited Arthur “Weegee” Fellig I decided to go as a 1930’s press photog acting [...]