The aesthetics of concealment : Weegee in the movie theater (1943-1950)

Between 1941 and 1945, movie theaters in the United States enjoyed a period of intense activity marked by record levels of attendance. Film scholars have explained this phenomenon by referring to the fascination exerted by "escapist" Hollywood films, which either idealized or completely negated the harsh economic and social conditions brought about by the outbreak of World War II. However, American photographer Arthur Fellig "Weegee" produced between 1943 and 1950 a series of photographs that reveal a more complex reality of movie going. Using infrared film and an invisible flash to cut through the almost complete darkness of the theater, his pictures reveal a peculiar function of the movie house at a specific moment in the history of the United States. By analyzing these photographs in the context of other sources of information such as posters, newspapers and magazine articles of the time, the dark and permissive interior of the movie theater emerges as an effective refuge from the violent forms of visual interaction that were established in public space as a consequence of wartime threats over American territory. Thus, at the time they serve as a starting point to recover a forgotten moment in the urban history of the United States, the images prompt a reevaluation of the spatial conditions of the movie theater itself-a site for public interaction that, interestingly, fosters unique forms of privacy and intimate exchange.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Ramirez Jasso, Diana, 1973-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mark Zarombek and Erika Naginski.

• Architecture.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/69444

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/69444