Nine Years Later

You may remember a little while back that I mentioned that I'd happened across a box of photographs I'd put in my storage space on Vandam street sometime back in 2003. I put a few of them up not too long back. Well, along with those shots, I came across an envelope of images from the week of September 11th, 2001. Like many other folks on that day, as the events were unfolding, I reached for my camera and took several shots of the towers as they burned. At the time, I don't believe I was sure why; it just seemed like the thing to do. It seemed like something to document. It was, after all, history in the making.

I've never known really what to do with the photos. I certainly never put them in a photo album, and the notion of posting them here always seemed a bit needless or tasteless. In the last nine years, most of the times I've seen images of that day, they've usually been misappropriated to drive home some political point. As I said way back when, the folks who seem the most obstreperous about the events of September 11th, 2001 usually tend to live nowhere near New York City.

In any case, upon re-discovering these pics, I thought about finally putting them up. Then, of course, all this business of the proposed Islamic community center -- the wrongly-described "Ground Zero Mosque" -- and the brouhaha regarding the burning of Qurans down in Florida transpired. Just so we're clear on these issues, I think there's no reason why that community center shouldn't be built and there's no reason to burn fucking anything this fucking Saturday. As Slate elegantly asserted in this article, those responsible for the events of September 11th, 2001 are no more representative of the whole of Islam than the Reverend Terry Jones' pig-ignorant fundamentalist sect of fatuous slackjaws are indicative of the whole of Christianity. But it seems like those points are a little too nuanced for people who'd rather get in a self-righteous froth about it and push us further towards an irreparable state of disharmony.

So, yeah, in light of this, I figured that pictures of the burning towers would be poorly-timed and counter-productive. The pictures I did see fit to put up, however, are images that I find to be a great deal more powerful. Shot in the days shortly after, I snapped a few shots of the makeshift tributes, shrines and memorials to the fallen. Closer scrutiny of these pictures reveals some recurring messages that are worth mulling over; "Respect life," "Peace is Possible," "We Stand for Peace," etc. What's happened to those sentiments?

Comments

[Tim]

Hi Alex,

There was a site that had a great tribute to the attacks, but I can't remember the url address now and possibly it doesn't exist anymore. It featured mostly black and white shots of the towers, and clips of the attack. No commentary. Very moving indeed, and captured the solemnity of the occasion . . .

I was out of New York at the time, and didn't make it down until a couple months later. People were already taking pictures of each other in front of the ruins. Incredible. But beneath the shock and trauma in New York was a renewed sense of togetherness that lasted for awhile. It was the best side of the city and I felt grateful to be here.

T.

[GEF]

i kick myself a bit for not documenting the memorials people put up at union square stating that night of 9/11, but i just thought it was fucking CREEPY to shoot photos of people sorrow, i'm just not that type of photographer, but in the weeks and years to follow i realize those memorials up until heavy rains in october started washing them away, were really really HEAVY FUCKING DUTY outpouring from REAL people. the last two shots are really poignant here Alex, thanks or sharing them... i'd like to get a really highest res possible of that second to last one . . . (only two months after i became your next door neighbor)

[Alex in NYC]

Sure thing, Glenn.

[Hamish Grant]

http://hereisnewyork.org/ might be the collection Tim is thinking of.

[E.T.Smith]

I have two polaroids I took on 9/11. One of them I can bear looking at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/559050519/in/photostream/

[John Q]

Oh gosh, what a liberal memory hole this site is.

[Chuck W]

I don't understand why loving peace and progress is 'liberal.' Does this mean being conservative is to hate peace and progress? No one in his right mind prefers war.

[Les]

"....the folks who seem the most obstreperous about the events of September 11th, 2001 usually tend to live nowhere near New York City."

Not to be too pedantic about it.... But those of who live in and around DC have noticed that 9/11 as it's coming to be seen by the nation does tend to be NYC-centric. I can't belittle what happened in NYC, but I don't personally know anyone who went to funerals there, and I do know people who went to funerals here.

[Farubu]

Goddamn that's a lot of litter.

[Alex in NYC]

Fair enough, Les. Point taken. My intention was not to downplay the impact of the event on those outside of NYC. You're correct, of course.... few seem to even mention the Pentagon (outside of conspiracy theorists who question the merit of the story). My point was that those who tirelessly bandy "9/11" about as if to justify any number of actions/causes/campaigns largely tend to be people who weren't immediately affected by it. I'm not suggesting that one can't empathize, but the events of that day have been positively FETISHIZED by certain quarters.

[Sherman Unkefer]

What a sad day that still polarizes us when it should unite us - that's what happens when we politicize everything.