Waves:
The Emotions of 9/11 Through Photography
“This horror broke to a very peaceful and a very happy environment from one second to the next, and I think this is the shock of 9/11”
September 11, 2001.
8:46 AM. The first plane hits the North Tower. Everyone on the plane and hundreds inside the building are instantly killed.
9:03 AM. The second plane hits the South Tower. Everyone on the plane and hundreds inside the building are instantly killed.
9:59 AM. The South Tower collapses.
10:28 AM. The North Tower collapses. 2,996 total people are killed by the time the second tower hits the ground (“9/11: Timeline of Events”).
10:30 AM. The entire US and surrounding countries are in disbelief.
The newscasters all over the world were broadcasting to every television, radio station, and newspaper. Within minutes, most people knew what was happening in New York City. With all of this new information came a stream of emotions from everyone. The three emotions that defined the day were “sadness, worry, and a rising fury” (“Charting The Emotions of 9/11– Minute By Minute”).
No one really captured the emotions of people that day as well as the photographers did. Photography catches emotion in raw and displays it in ways that people can connect to easily. Because of the photographers who captured 9/11 in amazing ways, people still become emotional when they see the photographs. People who weren’t living then become emotional as well, just because of how intense the pictures are. You can look at any 9/11 photograph and immediately feel a wave of all different emotions rush through you.
“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”– Aaron Siskind.
Out of thousands of photos, there were three that caught my eye: The Falling Man Photo, The Most Controversial Photo, and The Ground Zero Flag Raising Photo. Each one evokes a particularly powerful emotion and gives a different image about the true meaning of 9/11.
The Falling Man is one of the most famous and well known photographs of all time. People say pictures are worth a thousand words, but this one is worth far more. It is worth countless emotions and horrific memories from 9/11. The composition of the photograph is very simple and therefore can be easily digested by the eye. All the lines point down. The man falling between the building looks like he is so comfortable to be falling, like he is enjoying the last moments of his life. He is facing straight down and is completely vertical which–like the lines of the building in the background–point down. He is not in the middle of the frame, but more on the top part, which makes it seem like he still has a long way to fall. The lighting of the photograph also enhances it and makes it attractive to the eye(“Documentary Photo Analysis ‘The Falling Man’”). The photographer–Richard Drew– was working at a fashion show when his editor called him about the news of the towers. He shot about 15-20 frames for each person falling with a 200mm lense. In the end, this one was the best. It immediately caught his eye as he was going through all the photos. He took the photo at 9:41 AM, right when the South Tower was collapsing(The Falling Man. An Unforgettable Story). Drew had no relationship with the man whatsoever. He never figured out who he was. The name of the man is still a mystery, although people are getting close to figuring it out(The Falling Man).
This photograph was released only once–printed on page 7 of the New York Times the day after the attack(The Falling Man. An Unforgettable Story). But this one photograph raised several controversies. People argued that the photo came out too soon after 9/11 and that it shouldn’t have been printed in the newspaper. In 2006 Henry Singer made a documentary about the photograph. It touches on all the aspects of 9/11 and the photographer. In 2007, the New York Times used the photograph on the front page of a review. They received the most criticism they had ever received on anything. ‘There’s no blood, there’s no violence. It’s just this quiet picture of this man falling. But people can identify with it a lot. That they may have to face it some time — or had to face it that day at the World Trade Center — what would they do?’ (Mayer, 2011). The image didn’t outrage everyone when it surfaced, however. Theologian Mark D. Thompson, who works at Moore Theological College, said the picture was, ‘perhaps the most powerful image of despair at the beginning of the 21st century not found in art, or literature, or even popular music. It is found in a single photograph’ (Mayer, 2011)(Documentary Photo Analysis “The Falling Man”).
This photograph represents the emotion most people don’t want to be reminded of. Horror. People don’t like the photo because it reminds them of the horrific sights of 9/11.
The most controversial photo from 9/11 has stirred up dozens of arguments and questions. This is a photograph from a different point of view. A group of people are sitting on a bench chatting in the sunshine. Behind them are the smoking towers(The Meaning of 9/11’s Most Controversial Photo). All five people in the photograph are oblivious to what is going on in Manhattan.
Thomas Hoekper had moved to NYC after doing several visits there for Stern Magazine. Before he lived in New York he had lived in East Germany, which he claimed is a really depressing country. He didn’t show anyone his photo from 9/11 for a couple of years, because he thought that it didn’t show the horror of 9/11. The people in the photo look happy, and just on coincidence there is a black cloud in the background. The photo was a complete coincidence— he was just walking along Brooklyn one day and decided to take the picture(Video: “Thomas Hoepker on taking the most controversial photo of 9/11”).
“This horror broke to a very peaceful and a very happy environment from one second to the next, and I think this is the shock of 9/11”- Thomas Hoepker Interview(Video: “Thomas Hoepker on taking the most controversial photo of 9/11”).
This photograph is extremely controversial because there are a lot of different ways you can view this photograph. You can view it as a symbol of something good or something bad. Everyone in the photo got mad at Hoepker for photographing them in this way. He didn’t have their permission and it also looks like they don’t really care about what is going on behind them. But this can also mean that the country believes in moving on, and that they don’t get stuck on one thing forever(The Meaning of 9/11’s Most Controversial Photo). Life is constantly changing and it doesn’t always stop because something bad is going on. This photograph is established as one of the most defining photographs of 9/11. It is so iconic because it is so distanced and therefore it is artful. This photo represents juxtaposition, because of all the different views of the image. Just like the photograph, people have all sorts of views on 9/11 as a whole. This photo just puts all of that into a single frame.
Most pictures from 9/11 are focused on the horror and grief of that day. This photograph does the exact opposite. The Ground Zero Flag Raising photograph symbolizes something not a lot of people would think goes hand in hand with 9/11. Hope.
A group of firefighters are standing on the smoking ashes on ground zero. Behind them is the rubble of the fallen buildings. Right in the center of the frame is an American flag, raised about halfway up. The flagpole goes straight across the frame giving it a triangular look that speaks to the eye. The firefighters were still raising this flag when the photo was taken(Story Behind Iconic Image of Firefighters Raising Flag During 9/11).
Thomas E. Franklin started his day off normally in the office. As soon as he got the news of the plane hitting he went over to the towers by hitching a ride on a tug boat across the Hudson River(“Raising The Flag At Ground Zero”). He took the picture at 5:01 pm, long after the towers had hit the ground(“Story Behind Iconic Image of Firefighters Raising Flag During 9/11”). The firefighters were standing about 150 yards away from him(“Raising The Flag At Ground Zero”). They had found the flag from a ship docked nearby. They cut the flag down and brought it over to Ground Zero(“Story Behind Iconic Image of Firefighters Raising Flag During 9/11”). After they had raised the flag, it went missing. They just recently recovered it and had a ceremony on the 15th anniversary of 9/11(“Raising The Flag At Ground Zero”).
This photograph was one of the most widely reproduced pictures. It was posted on an estimated 255 million stamps around the US(Story Behind Iconic Image of Firefighters Raising Flag During 9/11). There was also a plan for a huge statue to be build based on the photograph, but it raised a lot of controversies so it never passed(Raising The Flag At Ground Zero).
This photograph is very similar to the one of the Iwo Jima Flag Raising. They both symbol hope. Both of these pictures are an iconic emblem during the time of grief and struggles. Most people on 9/11 were suffering and needed some ray of hope to shine through the clouds. This photograph did it. It reminded people that things will get better. That we are America and that this won’t stop us.
9/11 was a time of emotions. Everyone was feeling something. Whether it was disbelief, horror, shock, sadness, or awestruck, everyone had some jolt of emotion pass through them. Photographs capture an emotion from a single second of time and freeze it in a single frame. Through the power of photography people can’t really let go of their emotions they were feeling on that day. Those pictures bring back memories of the hard times. It sounds like it is a bad thing, but it’s not. Each and every single one of the photographs are worth taking a look at. Each of them captures a different aspect of that day. Some are worse than others. Some symbolize hope, while others symbolize horror and grief. But every single one is important in telling the story of that day. The story of September 11, 2001.
Works Cited
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TheGardian.Com, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2017
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ZmWebberWordpress.Com, 6 Mar. 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2017
“9/11 Timeline of Events” History. History.Com, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.
BJP. “Video: Thomas Hoepker on taking the most controversial photo of 9/11.” British
Journal Of Photography. Bjp-online.Com. 11 Sept. 2015, Web. 18 Mar. 2017
Jones, Jonathan. “The Meaning of 9/11’s Most Controversial Photo.” TheGardian.
TheGardian.Com, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2017
Junod, Tom. “The Falling Man. An Unforgettable Story.” Esquire. Esquire.Com, 9 Sept. 2016,
Web. 8 Mar. 2017.
Kluger, Jeffrey. “Charting The Emotions of 9/11– Minute By Minute.” Time. Time.Com, n.d.
Web. 10 Mar. 2017.
Morgan, Sarah. “Story Behind Iconic Image of Firefighters Raising Flag During 9/11.” One
Model Place. Blog.onemodelplace.com, 8 September 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2017
“Raising The Flag at Ground Zero.” Wikipedia.Org, 20 Mar. 2017, Web. 20 Mar. 2017
“The Falling Man.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia.Org, 20 Mar. 2017, Web. 6 Mar. 2017
Webber, Zm. “Documentary Photo Analysis ‘The Falling Man.’” Wordpress.
ZmWebberWordpress.Com, 6 Mar. 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2017
“9/11 Timeline of Events” History. History.Com, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.