Thomas Hoepker chose not to publish this photograph in a book about 9/11. Photograph: Thomas Hoepker/Magnum
Author: Jonathan Jones
In the photograph Thomas Hoepker took on 11 September 2001, a group of New Yorkers sit chatting in the sun in a park in Brooklyn. Behind them, across brilliant blue water, in an azure sky, a terrible cloud of smoke and dust rises above lower Manhattan from the place where two towers were struck by hijacked airliners this same morning and have collapsed, killing, by fire, smoke, falling or jumping or crushing and tearing and fragmentation in the buildings’ final fall, nearly 3,000 people.
Ten years on, this is becoming one of the iconic photographs of 9/11, yet its history is strange and tortuous. Hoepker, a senior figure in the renowned Magnum photographers’ co-operative, chose not to publish it in 2001 and to exclude it from a book of Magnum pictures of that horribly unequalled day. Only in 2006, on the fifth anniversary of the attacks, did it appear in a book, and then it caused instant controversy. The critic and columnist Frank Rich wrote about it in the New York Times. He saw in this undeniably troubling picture an allegory of America’s failure to learn any deep lessons from that tragic day, to change or reform as a nation: “The young people in Mr Hoepker’s photo aren’t necessarily callous. They’re just American.”
Categories: Afghanistan, Iraq, UK, United States
It is easier than you think to photoshop this type of photo. Since I do a lot of photography, I can say that this photo doesn’t seem right. The exposure of the people sitting in the foreground is way off than the exposure of the background. The background should have been much darker given the foreground is so bright that people’s shirts is shinning in the sun. Then again, difference in exposures can also be fixed to give a phone an overall uniform look. But in this photo it is not even uniform.
These days its common to see controversial photos, later only to find out that it was fake. After all, ‘truth’ is the first casualty or war, and most of the stuff related to 9/11 is scientifically proven fake (by reputable engineers, scientists and intellectuals) anyways.
Thank you for sharing the info about photography. We will not make any false photos, but, now I know the expert to go to, when we need to create some useful images for the Muslim Times.
Some people will suspect everything, but why this photo? Was there no destruction and smoke? Weren’t there thousands who watch it all happen from across the river? Why must this photo be a fake?
Putting aside the question of whether or not the photo is a “fake,” the article captures eloquently the human tradgedy of 9/11 and all the historical and individual human tragedies that were ignited in its’ name.
oh i am sorry i forgot to quote miss rabia munawar mir , what a great muslims she is look she has brought the world attention to this photo , in this photo we see that the peace ful americans are sitting peacefully and some terrorists destroyed their buildings and actuallly rabia wants to say that it was done by the muslims , but rabia instead of talking facts about anything else let me come to the point , i have seen millions and billions of people in my life , let me tell you that by name no person can be called as muslims , ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT A MUSLIMS IS BY HEART IS A REAL MUSLIMS . so after i went to your link and found out that ur actually a KADYANI so let me tell you that KADYANI’s are not muslims so dont relate ur self with muslims or islam and if you have some shame even a little so make ur own religion and have some shame with that and better would be if you acccepts judaism after all you all are working for them , lolzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Unfortunately Haseeb is revealing the mind set of the Mullahs, who in their narcissism want to condemn all Muslims of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (Kadyani is the derogatory word Haseeb wants to use) and all the Jews, without any evidence.
The innocent Muslim masses are just duped by these anti-Semite, Islamomaniac Mullahs who are in a sense Islamophobic also. The Mullahs like Haseeb hold a lot of destructive ideas in their limited minds, which usually work towards their own destruction and disadvantage!
Peace
This photo represents with what is wrong with world today. While several serious crises are going on (like the buildings on fire in the background) a majority of people are happy going about their lives without realizing that signs have appeared that God wishes to change this world. And then there are people like Pureboy trying to find faults in others than to look into themselves and to reform. A message for those who wish to change!