The Annual Feast of San Gennaro

Alfred Gescheidt, Little Italy, Manhattan, (Feast of San Gennaro), 1952

Dan Weiner, San Gennaro Festival, 1952

Lee Sievan, San Gennaro lights, 1940s

Weegee, Murder at the Feast of San Gennaro, September 22, 1939

Weegee, “‘Fiesta’ turns into tragedy, body of dead man, lies on street, Mulberry St., Little Italy,” ca. 1939

“The Annual Feast of San Gennaro, New York City’s longest-running, biggest religious outdoor festival in the United States. . . . The central focus of the celebration takes place every September 19th, the official Saint Day when a celebratory Mass is held in Most Precious Blood Church, followed by a religious procession in which the Statue of San Gennaro is carried from its permanent home in the church through the streets that comprise Little Italy.”

Although perhaps less photogenic and cinematic (the first, and perhaps best, five minutes of Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets) than it used to be, it’s also a bit less bloody…

The Joy of Living… on Third Avenue

Weegee, Joy of Living, 1942

Weegee’s photograph was made on Third Avenue between 41st and 42nd Streets, facing south. The caption from PM Daily (April 17, 1942, p. 7) reads: “Car Hits 3d Ave. L – One Dies, Two Hurt. 4. Under double-bill movie marquee, body of Stanely was covered with newspapers and coats by policeman. Technical charge of homicide against Frank Whalen, who was taken to Bellvue Hospital for observation. Another passenger, Joseph Mahoney, also was hurt.”

Brett Weston, Corner of 3rd Ave. and 36th St., New York, ca. 1945

Brett Weston’s view of Third Avenue is of the corner of Third Avenue and East 36th Street, facing north, with sign for the Queens Midtown Tunnel, parked cars, corner storefront in a brick building, elevated subway tracks, and the Chrysler building in the background.

Lee Sievan, Third Avenue at 35th Street, 1940s

Lee Sievan’s view of Third Avenue was made just below 35th Street, facing north, with a large clock on the sidewalk, people walking, cars, elevated subway tracks, commercial and residential buildings, and the Chrysler building in background.

Several photographs in the ICP archives were made on Third Avenue. I, coincidentally and fortunately, live on Third Avenue. I took a few quick photos at the approximate locations of where the original photographs were made while walking home the other evening. It was a pedestrian re-photographic project…

Women of the Photo League

Berenice Abbott, Church of God, December 8, 1936

Vivian Cherry, Game of Lynching IV, 1948

Helen Levitt, New York, July 1939

Sandra Weiner, [Boy in chair on sidewalk], 1940s

Lisette Model, At Sammy’s, New York, 1940

Lee Sievan, Third Avenue at 35th Street, 1940s

One of the most influential organizations dedicated to the teaching and exhibition of photography in the twentieth century, the Photo League advocated a politically committed documentary practice focused on the working class. While this New York-based collective had both male and female members, it was the men who produced the better known projects, including Aaron Siskind’s Harlem Document (1932–40) and Walter Rosenblum’s Pitt Street (1938). A current exhibition at Higher Pictures focuses on the overlooked work of the women of the Photo League including Berenice Abbott, Vivian Cherry, Helen Levitt, Lisette Model, Lee Sievan, and Sandra Weiner. The images above are from photographers in the exhibition and are part ICP’s Permanent Collection.

Happy National Pretzel Day!

Garry Winogrand, Woman eating pretzel, from “Women Are Beautiful,” 1981

Lee Sievan, Pretzel Lady, 1940s

re: evolution

Julia Margaret Cameron, Charles Darwin, July – August, 1868

Gary Brotmeyer, Lucy, 1987

Lee Sievan, Class in Cultural Anthropology at Hunter College, 1940s

Weegee, Darwin – Ted Jonas, ca. 1960

Weegee, “Hypo” My Assistant, ca. 1950

Weegee, [Showgirl Sherry Britton Reading Apes, Men and Morons], ca. 1944

Charles Darwin, born Feb. 12, 1809,
the same day as Abraham Lincoln,
his collected works are on-line,
died April 19, eight days before Ralph Waldo Emerson,
the same year as Mary Todd Lincoln, 1882…