Leica My avatar - Weegee

M. Valdemar

Top Veteran
Location
New York City
I thought some of you might be interested in my avatar. It's a portrait of Weegee, scanned off an early Polaroid print.

This photo was actually taken by my father.

My father owned a camera shop in the Bronx (NYC) in the early 1950's. WeeGee was a good customer of his. Weegee used to come in at all hours to buy film, chemicals and other supplies.

One day, a Polaroid rep came into the store to demonstrate the then brand-new Polaroid camera. He took a few shots, then Weegee walked into the store. My father snapped his picture with the Polaroid, then he took a few more with me (a toddler) in Weegee's lap. I remember I didn't like him because his cigar scared me.

My brother has the shots of me in his lap, and he is going to scan them for me.

By the way, my mother threw out a fortune. Weegee used to make multiple prints of his photos so he could sell them to various publications. He always gave my father a copy of his good ones, signed and stamped with his trademark.

My father kept them in a box in the garage. There were hundreds, maybe even a thousand. One day in the 1980's my mother decided that they smelled bad, and she threw them out, without telling me or my father. I almost had a heart attack when I found out. Even then, I knew they were very valuable. My mother, of course, was clueless.

Anyway, here is Weegee:

Weegee.jpg
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I love old photos. My father was an acrobat in the fifties and had many black & white publicity shots taken that I still have today..... plus a few minutes of very old video of him performing on the Ed Sullivan show :)
 
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