Weegee by Weegee at the Charleroi Museum of Photography

Weegee — real name Usher Fellig — is on show at the Charleroi Museum of Photography in Belgium until 4 December 2016.

Weegee by Weegee: 118 photographs

The Charleroi Museum of Photography exhibits 118 photographs from Jean Pigozzi's collection (son of the founder of the Simca car brand). Previously shown at the Baker Museum (Naples, Florida) in 2015, the images take us into the dark, New York world of the famous photojournalist.

Usher Fellig, a.k.a. Weegee

Usher Fellig (1899–1968), a.k.a. , is a legendary figure of photojournalism. It was by roaming the streets of New York at night that Weegee made a name for himself during the Great Depression. Crimes, sordid news items, strip clubs and bars formed Weegee's hunting ground. He showed the underbelly of the American Dream. His body of work, at once shocking and entertaining, paints an extraordinary portrait of the modern metropolis. Hired at ACME Newspictures — which later became United Press International — he spent twelve years in the darkness of the lab. At 35, he chose to go freelance, taking as his favourite subjects the street and its inhabitants: cops, gangsters, firefighters, revellers, strippers and drag performers. Weegee tapped into what sells — raw, evocative news photography. Recognition came from 1944 onwards, from the photography world, galleries and museums. Weegee died in New York on 26 December 1968, leaving behind a body of nearly 5,000 photographs and an essential chronicle of a city between 1930 and 1950. His photographs were published in the greatest newspapers: Life, Vogue, The Daily Mirror… From his work we can remember what he himself said of it: "to show how, in a city of ten million people, people live in complete loneliness."

More about the Weegee by Weegee exhibition

Charleroi Museum of Photography Address: Avenue Paul Pastur 11, 6032 Charleroi, Belgium GPS: place des Essarts, 6032 Charleroi, Belgium

• Access from Brussels: A54 motorway and Ring 9, "Porte de France" exit, A503 Beaumont, then R3 Mons, exit 5
• Access from Mons or Namur: E42 motorway, take the R3 ring road, exit 5

The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm. Admission

• €7 for individual visitors
• €5 for seniors and groups of 10 or more
• €4 for students and jobseekers
• Free for under-12s and Friends of the Museum