Summer, the Lower East Side, c. 1937

"The people loved their children and, no matter how poor they might be, they managed to dig up the money for my pictures. I would finish the photographs on the contrastiest paper I could get in order to give the kids nice, white, chalky faces. My customers, who were Italian, Polish, or Jewish, liked their pictures dead white."

Weegee by Weegee: An Autobioography, 1961

This is what Weegee said about this photograph This photo was probably taken for a family or as a part of a study.  He studied the Lower West Side of New York City quite a bit.  I love this photo and all of Weegee's stuff.  (if you like it here's the link to more of his stuff: http://museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/)

This is a photograph of children playing in the street in the summer.  I love this photograph because of all the details subtly hidden in it.  The little boy running isn't wearing a bathing suit, just his underwear.  In fact im pretty sure they all are just wearing clothes, not swimwear.  All the kids in the picture are as Weegee says, "white, chalky faces."They all look beyond happy to be playing in the water.  The adults in the background are all working and look hot as blazes.  They stare at their children with adoring faces.  The water they are playing in is coming from the fire hydrant.  All the children look very young, except the two boys in the middle.  The buildings in the background look big, but at the same time a little run down.  The block looks incredibly hot and uncomfortable, but everyone in the photo looks so happy to be there.

This is an incredible photograph.  I really love it.  I think one of the reasons why I love it so much is because even though it only shows one social class, it explains the class system at the time (1937)  These people quite obviously are pretty poor, but they love their lives.  Another reason this photo is so interesting is because they are so happy.  These people must have very difficult lives, but they appreciate their lives so much.  I think that in the eyes of Weegee these people were just people who were too darn hot and needed a break from life.  I think he wanted to show a different side of the people who were automatically judged because they didn't have a lot of money.    I love the physical layout of the picture, but I also love the idea behind it.

The way these people are so happy is incredible to me.  I think it's really interesting how they appreciate the little things they have, all because they don't have a lot.

Poem

The three poetic devices I used in my poem were rhyme scheme, repetition, and metaphor.

It's hot as hell today
I swear the house is burning
It will burn and crisp away

Like a fire blazing
spreading far and wide
heat's really hell raising

It's hot as hell today
I'm running down the stairs
into the heat soiree

The hot air makes me feel annoyed
stuffed in and combusted
The house feels near destroyed

It's hot as hell today
I sweat like a pig
But I'll try to make my way

The water feels nice
on my steaming back
a cold patter of ice

It's hot as hell today

I swear the house is burning

It will burn and crisp away