On the Spot VR
A virtual reality theatre experience that immerses viewers in the world of the infamous crime photographer Weegee.
Arthur Fellig, known by his pseudonym Weegee, haunted the crime and fatality scenes of Manhattan to capture a darker side of New York through the lens of his Speed Graphic camera. This was an entirely new photographic genre. These were scenes never previously shot or published.
We used archival records to create a non-linear VR theatre piece about the 1939 murder of gangster David “The Beetle” Beadle, as hauntingly captured in a photograph by Weegee.
We were able to find the exact location where the photograph was taken, and using archival maps and Google Street view, we recreated the precise topology of the intersection. See location.
The work blurs the boundaries between real and virtual, both through the on boarding process and by tracking the virtual body to a real human that can be touched and moved.
VR is frequently described as a natural evolution of cinema. ‘On The Spot’ embraces this association with a film-noir aesthetic. The project challenges some of the deterministic language that currently surrounds VR, such as immersion and presence, and the belief that these can provoke empathy.
![A black and white photo of a murder scene with a virtual recreation of the scene behind]()
The original 1939 Weegee photograph layered in front of the VR backdrop Onboarding audio
