Synopses & Reviews
During the golden age of tabloid photography--from the 1920s to the 1950s--photojournalists created some of the most innovate and enduring images in the history of photography. Photos of crimes and criminals, more than any other subject, captured the public imagination. Here for the first time is a selection of the most outstanding crime photographs from the archive of America's premier tabloid newspaper, the New York
Daily NewsAuthor William Hannigan demonstrates how these groundbreaking photos helped create the visual style that we now associate with film noir classics from Double Indemnity to Chinatown and L.A. Confidential. Narrating the history of tabloid photography, Hannigan tells how hard-hitting pictures helped the Daily News win the tabloid wars on the 1920s, earning it the title of "New York's Picture Newspaper." An introduction by Luc Sante, author of Low Life and Evidence, examines the impact of these pictures on their original audience and how differently we see them today.
Capturing the mystery and drama of real-life "news noir," the photographs in this volume are both visually sophisticated and relentlessly revealing of human nature's dark side. An eloquent portrait of a city and an epoch, this book is not to be missed by crime buffs, photography lovers, or students of New York City's past.
Synopsis
Grisly, ghastly, gorgeous photographs capture the faces of this century's most violent criminals and their unfortunate victims.
New York Noir explores the darker side of urban life, featuring over 130 chilling black-and-white photographs from the archives of "New York's Picture Newspaper." Besides being a shockingly beautiful expose of exceptionally ugly acts, this groundbreaking book draws attention, for the first time, to the relationship between the
Daily News and film noir. The images in the newspaper were the primary source for the visual style that has defined Hollywood movies, from
The Maltese Falcon to
L.A. Confidential.
Author William Hannigan describes the development of tabloid news photography and discusses the factors that contributed to the noir aesthetic. The introduction by Luc Sante explores the implications of viewing these photographs as art objects, decades after the events they record have passed. Many of the duotone reproductions were made from unique glass negative, while others capture the retouching and manipulation of the original prints.
An eloquent portrait of a city and an era, New York Noir will be a favorite among crime buffs, photography fans, and students of New York City's past.
About the Author
William Hannigan is an archivist who has been editing the
Daily News photo library for three years.
Luc Sante, author of Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York and Evidence, has written extensively on both New York City and photography.