World Trade Center, New York, destruction of

Catastrophe photographs have usually been aftermath pictures. Exceptions were either of prolonged disasters like the San Francisco earthquake and fire of April 1906, or of accidents at well-covered news or sporting events, such as the Hindenburg explosion in May 1937. Conditions in New York on 11 September 2001 were ideal for photography, with perfect weather and a conspicuous, protracted event occurring in a global media and tourist centre. Newspapers like the New York Times and the Newark Star-Ledger provided saturation photo-coverage. The photojournalist Bill Biggart perished; James Nachtwey narrowly escaped. Thousands of pictures were taken during the attacks and countless more in the months that followed. The Museum of the City of New York created a special archive overseen by Joel Meyerowitz, who also had privileged access to the site during the clearing operations. Working with the museum and the State Department, Meyerowitz assembled an exhibition of 27 Ground Zero images shown worldwide as part of America's post-11 September diplomatic offensive; it opened at the Museum of London in March 2002. Meanwhile, books poured from the presses, agencies compiled selections of their members' work, and photographic magazines produced ‘9/11’ issues. In September 2002, the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House launched an exhibition entitled Picturing What Matters comprising photographic icons that, according to director Anthony Bannon, ‘captured or expressed in some way what could be identified as core American values’.

— Robin Lenman

Bibliography

• George, A. R., Peress, G., Schulan, M., Traub, C., Here is New York: A Democracy of Photographs (2002)